David William Crossley: Sex offender given jail sentence for sharing explicit child exploitation material

A registered sex offender has been handed a backdated jail sentence after admitting to sending explicit child exploitation images to another man. David William Crossley, 53, was sentenced in Albany District Court on August 4 on one count of distributing child exploitation material. Crossley admitted that he had shared explicit photographs and a video of “particularly young children” with another man on August 7 in Tingledale, in the Shire of Denmark. The video was of a young child being sexually penetrated. Crossley has been remanded in custody since October 2, 2024 and pleaded guilty to the offence on November 28. A reportable offender at the time of the offence, Crossley was convicted of similar crimes in 2016 and 2021 and has previously served jail terms. Judge Charlotte Wallace labelled Crossley’s most recent offending a “relapse” and something he engaged in for his own “selfish sexual gratification”. “You assert that your interest in children is simply by the imagery and conversations,” she said. “You’re adamant that you would not commit a contact sexual offence.” She noted that, though he was not “physically directly abusing these children”, the offence encouraged abuse by others. “When people engage in offending of this nature, it feeds the industry and the demand for this kind of material, unfortunately,” she said, “Because it feeds the demand for the material, more children are therefore exploited and abused to meet that demand.” Judge Wallace took into account Crossley’s “genuine remorse and insight”, early pleas of guilty and his engagement in rehabilitation programs. She sentenced him to 10 months jail, backdated to October 2, 2024 and made him eligible for parole. His time in custody represents time already served. The maximum term of imprisonment for the charge is 10 years.