Ron Brierley appealing sentence after being jailed for possessing child abuse material

Warning: This article contains content that may be upsetting. 

Ron Brierley is appealing his sentence after being jailed for 14 months in a Sydney court last week. 

The Supreme Court of  New South Wales confirmed a notice of Intention to Appeal (NIA) has been filed with the Court of Criminal Appeal. 

Brierley was sentenced to 14 months with a non-parole period of 7 months last week. 

The rich lister admitted to possession of child abuse material earlier in the year.

Brierley was flying to Fiji in 2019 when an anonymous tip-off led police to stop him at Sydney’s International Airport. 

Within his bags, they found thousands of images of young girls stored on three USB devices. 

A search of his Sydney mansion uncovered even more - five USB devices on his dining room table and nine more in a hallway cabinet and in his bedroom. 

The 84-year-old pleaded guilty to possession of more than 46,000 images - he downloaded the images online from a subscription service. The images were of children as young as 4 and as old as 20. 

Many were photographed in sexualised poses, wearing crop tops, singlets, bikinis and underwear. They were often posing in sexualised poses and sometimes photographed in a bedroom in front of a backdrop with a curtain. 

When interviewed by police Brierley said they were "... perfectly OK", that he looked at them for "recreation" and thought they "looked interesting".

One image was of a young girl aged between 9 and 11 years old naked on a bed. It was attached to an email sent to his business email. 

Also on the devices were "fantasy stories" detailing the sexual assault of both an 11-year-old and 9 year old. Brierley said he had read them. 

When asked if they were for sexual purposes he said "no" but later admitted he had an "interest in soft pornography" and had an obsession and attraction to pre-pubescent girls and used it to masturbate. 

The court heard he had likely started collecting the images several years ago, likely after 1995. 

Brierley pleaded guilty to three charges of possession of child sexual abuse material in April. 

While he waited to be sentenced, the Queen stripped him of his knighthood at the request of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. 

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