Suicide taunt to suspects

A DAY after one of the men arrested in a national pedophile crackdown tried to kill himself, a politician has sparked outrage by encouraging people accused of child pornography to commit suicide.

The comment was made as eight more men were charged and a former police officer pleaded guilty to accessing child pornography, saying he was addicted to using the internet and found it a challenge to locate difficult sites.

By late yesterday 98 men were facing charges, a figure expected to rise as many suspects are questioned over coming weeks.

Queensland's Opposition police spokesman, the Nationals MP Vaughan Johnson, told State Parliament: "I hope they bring these grubs to justice.

"One of them committed suicide yesterday, and another one had a big go, but he must not have had the courage to do it properly. If they all went and did it first up, we wouldn't have this problem. They must be guilty if they commit suicide."

A 59-year-old Sunshine Coast teacher charged with possessing child pornography killed himself on May 5, police said, while a 48-year-old teacher from Brisbane's southern outskirts attempted suicide on Thursday.

"As far as I'm concerned, they can all top themselves," Mr Johnson said. "If they are there, interfering with children, they are the lowest form of life on the planet."

A spokesman for Queensland's Opposition Leader, Lawrence Springborg, had no comment on Mr Johnson's views, but the state's police commissioner, Bob Atkinson, said suicide was a "huge concern" in child pornography cases.

Terry O'Gorman, vice-president of the Queensland Council for Civil Liberties, said: "Politicians are supposed to provide some leadership. He is happy to lead from the gutter and he should be seen in that light."

As an experienced politician, Mr Johnson was "a disgrace to engage in that sort of mindless comment", Mr O'Gorman said.

A former federal police officer charged with accessing child porn images, Michael Edward Hatch, 38, said he did it as "a challenge", and was not sexually interested in young girls.

Hatch told ACT Magistrates Court he had become obsessed with internet porn while depressed and had gradually moved from viewing adult women to pubescent girls.

"I feel absolute disgust at myself with what I did," he said. "It was vile … To me it was a challenge. That is what I got my excitement from."

Breaking down in court, Hatch said he had not seen the children as victims but now realised that his actions were "despicable".

Hatch's partner, whose name cannot be published under an order by the court, said she did not believe he was a threat to her four teenage children. A psychologist, Marshall O'Brien, said he did not believe Hatch was a pedophile. The case has been adjourned until Thursday.

Meanwhile, the AFP has denied it jeopardised the operation by revealing details before it was finished, saying it was important the public learnt of the danger.

It said it had an electronic record of all those who accessed the European site that sparked the global investigation. It also claimed three people had come forward since the operation was made public on Thursday to confess to accessing the images.

Queensland's Police Minister, Judy Spence, said many Queensland police were "puzzled" by the AFP decision to go public.

The child protection units of the AFP and Queensland police have been at loggerheads for years. Informed sources said there was considerable animosity and jealousy between them.