It has emerged the journalist arrested yesterday at Australian TV network Channel Nine for allegedly sharing child pornography had also made a short film about incest.
Ben McCormack, a 43-year-old reporter for A Current Affair, had previously directed a short film called Family Outing, about a young man's visit to a gay bathhouse who is then pleasured by an older man who turns out to be his father.
The black and white five minute film was directed by Mr McCormack in 2001 and filmed in Brisbane.
A former colleague of Mr McCormack, who did not want to be named, told Australian media that A Current Affair staff were disgusted by the film, and that Mr McCormack had told them he planned to settle down and have children himself.
"Ben has been openly gay the entire time he was at Nine," the source said.
"He was a single guy and a few years ago he was talking about having a kid.
"McCormack would often talk about his filmmaking prowess and in particular about Family Outing," they said.
"He would talk about it all the time. The storyline was a bit sick and made people around the ACA office say "why the f*** would you do that?"
Staff were also left shocked by McCormack's arrest on Thursday.
"His arrest came as a real shock because we thought there were no surprises about Ben - he was open about being gay even though Nine is not exactly the most gay-friendly place to work. Even the chicks there are really blokey," claimed the source.
Mr McCormack was arrested and charged with sending child pornography using a carriage service.
He has been suspended by Channel Nine and his bail conditions mean that he is not to go on the internet or meet anyone under the age of 16.
He is due to appear in court on May 1.
Hey Dad! child sex scandal
During a 25-year-career at Channel Nine, Mr McCormack broke many controversial stories including the infamous Hey Dad! child sex abuse scandal.
Hey Dad! was a popular Australian sitcom TV series that ran for eight seasons in the 1980s and '90s that also screened in New Zealand.
It was Mr McCormack who first confronted Hey Dad! star Robert Hughes and questioned him about whether he had abused children, including young cast members.
Following Mr McCormack's A Current Affair story on the Hey Dad! scandal, Hughes was convicted on 10 child sex charges and sentenced in 2014 to a maximum of 10 years and nine months with a non-parole period of six years.
Newshub.
