Robert Andrew Bell: Former Kalgoorlie-Boulder health service manager jailed for child exploitation material

A former Kalgoorlie-Boulder health service manager who engaged in “fantasy” sexual conversations about young children and was found with more than 200 images and videos of child exploitation material has been jailed. Father-of-two Robert Andrew Bell was jailed for 17 months in Perth District Court last week for charges of production, possession and distribution of CEM, which he pleaded guilty to. The 55-year-old, who previously worked as an operating nurse for more than 13 years, was arrested at his workplace on June 12 last year where he had been working as an operations manager for seven years. Bega Garnbirringu Health Service released a statement after his pleas of guilty to the charges in Kalgoorlie Magistrates Court last year, confirming his employment had been terminated and his offending was not workplace-related. Under the name NaughtyNurse71, Bell engaged with other users on a website over a six-day period in June last year, discussing young boys and girls in an erotic and sexual manner. Using a similar username on an online app, Bell sent three images of child exploitation material to another user. One image was category-one material and the others category two. His phone was seized and several albums on Dropbox were found to contain 33 category-one images, 214 category-two images and two videos under different folders such as “bro and sis”, “dads and daughters” and “family”. Some of the material depicted AI-generated children, but the rest depicted real children. Bell was caught when police traced the username to him and discovered he was employed at a healthcare service working with vulnerable patients, including children. He held a Working With Children Card at the time. Bell told police he was attracted to anyone over the age of 18 and the written content, images and videos of CEM were “just a fantasy”. He told a psychologist a former partner of his had shared the Dropbox folder with him and they used to watch the content together. He claimed he accessed it once every few years, “if that”, since the break-up. His lawyer, Neville Barber, said Bell’s offending occurred in the context of him feeling “abandoned” at work because he knew of plans to replace him, leaving him feeling “devalued and unappreciated” at work, and that he had plans to leave before he was arrested. Bell told the psychologist he also viewed adult pornography whilst engaging in sexualised behaviour at work. The psychologist found he viewed children aged 10 and up as sexual beings, which was accepted by Judge Lisa Tovey. Several character references were provided to the court speaking highly of Bell, and he was supported in court by his wife who — along with his stepson and friends — wrote of the remorse Bell expressed to them. Bell also wrote a letter to the court expressing his “deep shame and remorse” which was accepted by Ms Tovey in mitigation. She also took Bell’s psychological treatment and relapse prevention plan as significant gains towards not re-offending and said he had made progress towards his own rehabilitation. His lack of criminal record, early pleas, co-operation with police, childhood trauma and health conditions were also taken into account in mitigation. The court was also told Bell had received threats, a note in his letterbox and was confronted by a neighbour after his offending was covered by media. The impact of this coverage was accepted as limited mitigation, with Ms Tovey saying the public coverage was “no doubt a source of distress” but it was “really a consequence of your own offending”. In her sentencing remarks, Ms Tovey said the courts had to consider the protection of vulnerable children from cyber-predators and that offences of possession of CEM were not victimless crimes. “Sight should never be lost to the fact that the possession of child exportation material results in the continued victimisation of the child featured in the image or in the video,” she said. “The courts have also particularly recognised that those who possess child exploitation material help fuel the demand for it, and a sentence which acts as a deterrent sentence is required to protect children from exploitation.” She said personal deterrence had a “lesser role” to play in her sentencing of Bell, with general deterrence the main focus. She granted him a 25 per cent discount to his sentence for his pleas of guilty and sentenced him to 13 months for one of the charges, eight months on another to be served concurrently and four months cumulatively on the third – which had been reduced from eight for totality. The term was backdated to February 14 and he was made eligible for parole after serving half the time. If you or someone you know needs help, contact 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732), or Sexual Assault Counselling Australia on 1800 211 028, the WA Sexual Assault Resource Centre on 6458 1828 or 1800 199 888 or Lifeline on 13 11 14.