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A Perth man has been sentenced to 24 years and six months imprisonment after it was found he abused children as young as two months old.
Michael Brian Becton, from Waikiki, was sentenced in WA District Court last week, charged with 76 offences relating to the sexual abuse of seven victims including children aged between two months and 13 years old.
The charges related to offending that took place between 2020 and 2024 in regional towns and Perth’s southern suburbs, and involved indecent dealings with a child under 13, rape of a child under 13 and producing child exploitation material.
The confronting details of his offending were laid out in court, with District Court Judge Hayley Cormann running through a number of instances in which Becton had abused young children – both boys and girls.
In describing one instance, Cormann said his offending was “disgusting”.
“The two-year-old victim actually says the words ‘no’ to you, and she becomes upset, yet you persisted,” she said.
The court heard Becton frequently recorded his assaults on young children and manoeuvred them to take photos.
He was also sentenced to an additional five years imprisonment due to a Commonwealth charge, which found him guilty of offending against a child in New Zealand.
Cormann said Becton met the child while on holiday in the country, and had been entrusted by her family to take the 23-month-old girl on a walk.
He then abused her.
The court heard Becton frequently abused children and shared the incidents online, and Cormann said in one instance he offended against a baby that had “no capacity to move or withdraw his body from you”.
“Your offending against the baby is sick, and it’s degrading. During the offending, when you commit a number of degrading offences, the baby is clearly restless and the baby is distressed, yet your
offending continues,” she said.
“The baby is crying and tries to lift himself up, but given his size and capacity, he is unable to get away from you.”
A WA police spokesperson said detectives worked closely with federal counterparts to find Becton and charge him, with a raid on his house conducted in May 2024.
The court heard he had hundreds of thousands of images on his devices when arrested.
Cormann was unequivocal during sentencing.
“These are abhorrent, disturbing, distressing and devastating offences and materials and my words are completely inadequate to describe the devastation of that material,” she said.
“I am firmly of the view that it was clearly escalating and becoming more sustained, more depraved and more involved.”
She sentenced him to 24 years and six months imprisonment.
A WA Police spokesperson condemned the offending.
“The Western Australia Police Force acknowledges the profound harm caused by child sexual abuse. Offending of this nature is among the most serious and disturbing crimes police encounter. It causes lifelong trauma for children, their families and the wider community,” they said.
“Child sexual abuse destroys lives. Every act of abuse leaves deep and lasting trauma. Every image or video of child exploitation material represents the real suffering of a child.
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