A high-ranking Queensland cop will spend just three months behind bars after being caught with child abuse material of the worst kind, after a psychologist determined he was a low risk of reoffending and “not a paedophile”.
Mark Andrew Lewer, 52, was an award-winning senior sergeant in Mackay before being suspended after his arrest in March 2024 and subsequently resigned, but was never placed into custody.
The father-of-three faced Mackay District Court on Thursday after pleading guilty to one count of possessing child exploitation material and one count of using a carriage service to access child exploitation material, the Daily Mercury reported.
The court heard Lewer used four different “dark web” accounts, one which was his name backwards and with passwords matching his police badge number, and accessed child abuse material websites on 2,971 occasions.
A police search of his home resulted in the discovery of dozens of images of real children of the most extreme category, and thousands of images and videos of the second most extreme kind.
Crown prosecutor Grace Ollason said the “depravity” of the offending was apparent from Lewer’s regular searches for material involving babies and toddlers and with an “extremely consistent” incest theme.
Lewer told police after his arrest that he didn’t know the material was illegal, had only accessed the dark web five times, and acted out of curiosity, claims which were questioned by Ms Ollason.
“This is somewhat perhaps bizarre given his employment history, he strangely did not know viewing that material was an offence,” she told the court.
However, a psychologist’s report described Lewer as a low-risk offender and deemed him not to be a paedophile, and his lawyer Greg Maguire argued his client had already suffered “extra-curial punishment” and “embarrassment” due to media coverage and the loss of his job.
Mr Maguire also claimed the site visitation numbers had been skewed by his client not closing the webpages, ABC News reported.
Judge Suzanne Sheridan gave Lewer an 18-month sentence, with three months to be served in jail beginning immediately, before two years of probation.
Header image: Mark Andrew Lewer.
