SAPOL Cop Gordon Alexander Broadfoot Gets Slap on Wrist For Viewing Child Abuse Material
South Australia’s cop- and pedo-friendly courts have let another sexually deviant ex-SA police officer walk free.
Gordon Alexander Broadfoot , 55, of Hectorville, pleaded guilty to one count of having obtained access to child exploitation material in his home between November 11 and 30, 2024.
That charge carries a maximum 12-year prison term and is normally dealt with in the District Court.
Broadfoot was a former British and Australian Army soldier who downloaded pages of child exploitation material while serving as an SA Police officer.
He has been spared a prison term for his crime.
On Thursday, Gordon Alexander Broadfoot donned a disguise and ran from the Adelaide Magistrates Court – minutes after saying he accepted full responsibility for his offending.
Broadfoot’s lawyer, Stacey Carter, explained that Director of Public Prosecutions Martin Hinton KC had “decided it was appropriate” her client’s case be heard in the lower court.
She said that was because the material Broadfoot downloaded was “fictional stories”, of between four and 52 pages in length, of children engaged in sexual activity.
“It’s not photos of any actual children, it’s all fictional written stories that were not authored by him,” she said.
Carter dredged up all the usual nonsense in defence of her perverted client, claiming Broadfoot’s life had been marked with trauma, beginning with his childhood in Scotland where he suffered “sectarian violence based on religion”.
Which has got nothing to do with consuming child abuse material.
She said he served a combined 33 years in the British and Australian Armies, undertaking tours in Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq, achieving the rank of Master Gunner.
Broadfoot, she said, became a police officer in 2015 but his mental health suffered – and alcoholism increased – when his best friend took his own life.
Which has got nothing to do with consuming child abuse material.
His “downward spiral”, she said, coincided with his offending, but stressed he continued to have the support of his wife and son and had resigned from SA Police.
“The sad reality for many SA Police officers is that, if they speak about having mental health issues, they are at risk of losing their jobs,” she said.
Which has got nothing to do with consuming child abuse material.
“It’s common that they do not disclose (and) that unfortunately leads to the situation we have here – good, upstanding members of the community finding themselves in crisis.
“Despite the profound shame, humiliation and embarrassment he feels, he has admitted responsibility and shown absolute remorse.”
Yes, because he got caught.
Prosecutors urged the court to impose an immediate prison term, saying Broadfoot’s alcoholism and mental health issues were “not causative” of his offending.
In sentencing, the state’s chief magistrate, Judge Mary-Louise Hribal, said the material Broadfoot accessed was “deviant, disturbing and abhorrent”.
“It claimed to depict ‘consenting children’ – to be clear, Broadfoot, children can never consent to these acts … material such as this is dangerous and reprehensible,” she said.
However, she agreed his offending was toward the ‘lower end of the scale of seriousness’ and suspended his six-month prison term on condition of an 18-month good behaviour bond.
An SA Police spokesman disagreed with Carter’s submissions in court.
“SA Police comprehensively rejects the suggestion that any police officer is at risk of losing their job if they speak about having mental health issues,” he said.
“The production of child exploitation material involves the rape, sexual abuse and degradation of children.
“People who view this material are enablers of these horrific crimes against our community’s most vulnerable.”
