A top judge-turned-legal academic has admitted possessing child abuse material after inadvertently displaying the vile illegal content in a lecture at Monash University.
Alan Boulton, 76, who has been out on bail since he was charged in August last year, appeared in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday where he pleaded guilty to two counts of child abuse material possession.
Prosecutors then dropped a third charge of “of engaging in sexual activity, other than sexual intercourse, with a child under 16 outside of Australia”, 9News reported.
Boulton was arrested after the images flashed up on screen during a lecture in February 2025, and then had his bail conditions relaxed so he could take a holiday to Europe after arguing he had spent a “serious amount” of money on the trip.
Boulton’s bail was extended, but his primary address was changed from the inner Melbourne suburb of Middle Park to Bronte in Sydney’s east.
A Channel Nine reporter asked him “are you a paedophile?” as he left court, but he did not respond.
He is due to appear in the County Court of Victoria for a pre-sentencing hearing in March.
After the incident Monash University immediately suspended Boulton, who was teaching a course on international labour law, removed him from all teaching duties, and provided students who saw the material with support services.
Boulton had a long and distinguished legal career, and in 1979 was appointed as the first-time legal officer of the Australian Council of Trade Unions by then-ACTU President Bob Hawke, who went on to become Prime Minister four years later.
He was also the President of the Industrial Relations Commission of Victoria, President of the Defence Force Remuneration Tribunal, was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2002, and is known as a collector of Chinese porcelain and 19th Century French Spelter lamps and statues.
According to an online profile he worked for the International Labour Organisation in Manila and Jakarta where he developed programs on child labour, industrial relations, and migrant workers.
Header image: Alan Boulton outside court (9News).
