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William Wee Liat Tan phoned his elderly mother early one November morning from a prison south-west of Brisbane, as dozens of allegations relating to child abuse material hung over his head.
He had an urgent request: that she visit a website to delete one of his accounts – without reading anything on it.
“Will they allow me to do that?” his mother asked.
Over several days, Tan pleaded with his mother to close the profile. This is how, according to Supreme Court documents, he allegedly tried to pervert the course of justice.
The account the 48-year-old tried to hide was just one of many he had used to send horrific and graphic child exploitation material, police say.
In some instances, the material, revealed in court documents, was too extreme for investigators to write out.
From the outside, Tan led a glamorous life. As the co-founder of the Ms Oceania pageant, he presented a picture of wealth, posing beside Aston Martins and other high-performance cars in dozens of photos.
For years, he attended invitation-only events and charity functions, networking with some of Queensland’s movers and shakers. He posted about his support for various charities, including ones that helped women flee violence.
He was photographed alongside former Queensland premier Campbell Newman, Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner, Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate, and champion boxer Jeff Horn.
Prosecutors say he appeared to be wealthy, successful and an otherwise upstanding member of the community.
At the time of Tan’s calls to his mother, police were sifting through his data after raiding his properties in Fortitude Valley and Fitzgibbon. They found seven laptops, more than half a dozen phones, and hard drives.
The allegations against him paint a picture of unprintable perversion.
According to court documents, some of the earliest alleged messages date from 2019, when Tan spoke about a man who lured a young girl from a shopping centre before sexually abusing her.
In an online conversation, Tan asked another person about the case, and how they could have “done it better”.
Police believed Tan was referring to the matter of Sterling Mervyn Free, 27, who had abducted a seven-year-old girl from Kmart at Westfield North Lakes and sexually abused her in bushland before returning her to the shopping centre.
The messages Tan sent span dozens of pages, police say.
Tan allegedly wrote that every time he saw a little girl he was sexually aroused, and it was “hard to hide, especially in shopping centres and when I travel”.
Police say that in a private message thread between Tan and another user between January 2020 and June 2020, he wrote: “I love the idea we can go find a little girl at a shopping centre and lure her back”, and he distributed child exploitation material.
Between 2020 and 2022, police say Tan wrote in a private message thread: “I run a rough child love and sex group. Are you interested. All mum and dads in there believe in child raping and rough love.”
Many of the other alleged messages are too graphic to publish. Some include references to violent assaults of babies.
According to court documents, Tan also discussed with another user about having a late-term abortion and how they would molest the fetus.
“I love the idea we can go find a little girl at a shopping centre and lure her back.”
Alleged online message from Tan
Some examples were so extreme, investigators themselves found the content too disturbing to write out in detail, such as messages relating to the killing of children and cannibalism.
Police say that on multiple occasions Tan encouraged others in forums to abuse their own children.
In a chat between August and October last year with 36 participants, Tan allegedly distributed child abuse material. The forum had videos depicting the torture of children and women, including a toddler being stomped on, picked up and swung by the limbs into a wall, before being threatened with a knife.
Meanwhile, Tan was helping manage Ms Oceania pageants. It was less than a month away from a November event when participants were abruptly told the co-founder had been arrested.
Tickets for the pageant, scheduled to be held at the Sofitel in Brisbane’s CBD on November 8, were selling for $250 when Tan was arrested on October 12.
Entrants had spent thousands of dollars on fees, pageant events and costuming, with some travelling from interstate.
Between networking events and fundraising for charities, there had been regular online catch-ups to discuss logistics.
When a meeting was called without context, pageant participants recalled thinking it was nothing out of the ordinary.
It was in this meeting that the women heard Tan had been arrested.
Co-founder Lynn White eventually called the pageant off.
An entrant who requested anonymity to speak freely about the private meeting said White appeared shocked as she delivered the news. White told the women she wanted the event to proceed, but contestants were eventually refunded their $800 entrance fee.
The entrant described the news as devastating. She had met Tan on multiple occasions, and heard him speak about leadership and business at pageant events.
A pageant entrant recalled Tan as a charismatic figure who gave speeches to inspire. “But there was also an off feeling about him.”
Hearing about the arrest left her feeling “cognitive dissonance”.
Another entrant, Belinda Rygier, said the pageant process and community had been supportive after the allegations were made public.
Rygier recalled Tan as a charismatic figure who gave speeches to the groups to motivate and inspire. “But there was also an off feeling about him,” she said.
She said many in the pageant community were still processing their feelings.
“People are shocked, we genuinely are. So shocked that it’s unbelievable,” she said. “It’s this feeling of hearing a pin drop. The silence of ‘holy what’, of just absolute shock.”
Tan had other business interests, including his ownership of Sieverts Radiation Consultancy. In 2006, he was the Liberal candidate for Algester.
Since his arrest, people have expressed their shock on social media, with one person remembering sitting beside Tan at a charity for children trafficked for sexual abuse.
“You came across as charismatic, friendly and even supportive of charities, promoting positivity and inspiration on your page, yet turned out to be such a huge disappointment,” wrote another.
Tan’s case will return to court on March 20.
Anyone needing support can contact 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732), National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028, Lifeline 13 11 14, and Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800.
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