A man has been jailed in Orange Local Court after police found three child pornography images on his mobile phone as well as an unregistered firearm on his couch.
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Police went to the then Park Street address of Ricky Evans, 33, on June 11, 2019, with a search warrant related to a suspicion that he was involved in an unrelated crime.
The warrant was executed at 12.07pm and police seized Evans' mobile phone and a hard drive and they found a revolver-style firearm on his living room couch, which Evans said was a cap gun, and they found cannabis leaf on the coffee table and his bedside table.
Although it had been described as a toy, police said the gun looked like a revolver-style firearm.
A consultation with a firearms expert determined that it met the criteria of a pistol.
Police extracted data from his devices on July 11, 2019, and found three child pornography images depicting three anonymous children including a boy who appeared to be under 12 and two girls who appeared to be under five.
One of the three photographs included a naked man on which Evans' face had been superimposed and another included a woman having intercourse with a dog.
[It] exists because people like Mr Evans have an immense appetite for the disgusting filth served up involving the abuse of children.
- Magistrate David Day
Magistrate David Day spoke of the enduring harm that was done to children who were "abused from an early age and suffer for the rest of their lives".
"They might be anonymous due to living elsewhere in the world but they are real human beings," Mr Day said.
"Some of these children are trafficked ... and it only exists these days because of the internet.
Mr Day said Caucasian children, as depicted in this child abuse material, often came from countries in Eastern Europe.
"The victims are children in unknown parts of the world who are preyed upon by evil adults who for their own gain prey upon children," he said.
"[It] exists because people like Mr Evans have an immense appetite for the disgusting filth served up involving the abuse of children," Mr Day said.
In terms of the pistol, Mr Day described it as a "very realistic replica".
Mr Day sentenced Evans to 18 months' jail with a 13-month non-parole period for possession of the child abuse material and possession of an unauthorised pistol.
However, he released him on bail pending a severity appeal in the District Court.
Mr Day also convicted him without further penalty for possession of the cannabis.
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