Seymour man sexually abuses child

Vinden inappropriately touched a nine-year-old girl at his home in Seymour on March 24, 2022.

He stopped when the victim asked him to, and her mother said she looked “shocked, angry and upset” when she got home before telling her mother that Vinden had touched her inappropriately.

When questioned by police, Vinden denied any sexual contact with the victim.

After coming to police attention for investigating a website that provided access to child abuse material, police seized two cell phones and an imitation firearm during a search of his home on May 10, 2023.

One of the phones contained 449 files containing child abuse material “of a graphic and disturbing nature”.

Of these, one image and 168 videos were rated as category one or the worst according to the Interpol basic scale, and 13 images and 267 videos were rated as category two.

The videos were between nine seconds and 41 minutes long.

Files containing child abuse material were also found in an app disguised as a calculator; However, police were unable to extract them without changing their metadata.

In sentencing Vinden, Judge Robyn Harper said the “translation of online crime to real-life crime” was a “significant breach of trust”.

She said there was an element of victim blaming after the fact, which was “not an excuse for your behavior”.

Judge Harper told Vinden that the child abuse material files disguised in a calculator app showed “secrecy, cunning and organization on your part.”

Judge Harper said the nature of the material was “depraved” which was more concerning than the number of images and that many victims had been harmed in the production of the material.

“These are crimes that cause real and lasting harm to the children depicted,” she said.

“They are subjected to horrific abuses to satisfy those who access and possess the images.”

Judge Harper acknowledged that Vinden had been diagnosed with extreme clinical depression and that his mental health was likely to deteriorate while in custody.

She also admitted that Vinden was often bullied at school.

Judge Harper found that Vinden was a diagnosed pedophile who had not yet undergone treatment despite having had “ample opportunity to do so”.

“So many children are affected by your crimes,” she said.

“They must understand that the courts and the community will not tolerate this behavior.”

Vinden was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison, but will be released after two years and six months on a $1,000 recognizance release order.

Conditions of the order include that Vinden must be of good behavior for three years, engage in sex offender treatment and programs, participate in corrections and not leave Victoria or Australia.

If he fails to comply with these conditions, he must pay $1,000 and serve the remaining one year and three months of his sentence.

Vinden must comply with sex offender registration requirements for the rest of his life.

He was also fined $1,000 for the felony offense of possession of an imitation firearm.