Bizarre request before vile pedo locked up

WARNING: Distressing.

Lawyers representing a vile pedophile who lured a cognitively impaired child and with his wife sexually abused him over years made a bizarre request before he was jailed on Thursday.

Julia Ann Bamforth, 50, and husband Paul Robert Bamforth, 51, were sentenced at Gosford District Court on Thursday over more than 120 vile child sexual abuse charges.

Justice David Wilson sentenced the couple to 30 and 32 years behind bars respectively, and they will not be eligible for release into the community on parole until the early 2040s.

Mr Bamforth’s lawyers warned Justice Wilson as sentencing got under way that morning about potentially handcuffing him out of concerns about how he might react.

“I fear that he (Mr Bamforth) might react when he hears the ultimate final sentence. One (way) of mitigation would to have him handcuffed,” the lawyer told the court.

Ultimately, when asked if he understood his sentence, Mr Bamforth replied only “Yeah” and later “OK” before he was taken from court to serve his lengthy sentence.

The couple, who resided on the NSW Central Coast, lured the neurodivergent boy in with free illicit drugs before filming the depraved acts committed against the child.

In sentencing, Justice David Wilson warned there was evidence that had the pair not been charged they would have likely continued to commit child sex offences.

“The total indicative term for Mr and Mrs Bamforth exceeds 200 years if I accumulated the indicative terms, which would be harsh if not absurd,” Justice Wilson said.

“It is not my intention to impose a life sentence on them, but that is a real risk. Because of her health, Ms Bamforth may die before reaching the non-parole period.”

Justice Wilson sentenced Ms Bamforth to 30 years behind bars in prison on 78 offences. She will not be eligible for release on parole until August 2040.

Her husband of 23 years, Mr Bamforth, was sentenced to 32 years in prison on a total of 67 offences, and will be eligible for parole after 22 years and four months.

Justice Wilson earlier told the court he could not make any favourable findings about “remorse, rehabilitation, or risk of reoffending” in regard to Mr Bamforth.

“Mr Bamforth shows no insight into his offending and accepts no responsibility other than guilty pleas in the face of the overwhelming Crown case,” he said,

“He is a pedophile who is in denial about that fact. The risk of reoffending is tied to the prospects of successful rehabilitation which I find extremely remote.”

The court was told the campaign of abuse lasted more than three years, with videos of the acts taken by Mr Bamforth even on Christmas Eve and the child’s 15th birthday.

The 50-year-old was largely responsible for filming the abuse which the court was told was stored on laptops and hard drives, and in a folder named: “My little c**k lover”.

The court was told one video, which lasted 23 minutes, was a complication depicting “various videos and slide shows of Julia, Robert, and the victim in various sexual acts”.

In some video, the pair were seen handing the victim an ice pipe after using it themselves. In others, the child was seen apparently under the influence of an illicit substance.

In addition to the vile footage, Justice Wilson told the court police had also uncovered hundreds of notes and stories written by the couple dating back as early as 2016.

The stories, most too graphic to be retold, amount to more than 2500 words and include fantasies detailing both real and imagined child sexual abuse and necrophilia.

“These stories show Mr and Mrs Bamforth have a predisposition to having sex with children and the lengths they would go to satisfy their needs,” Justice Wilson said.

“She stated she cannot wait to reoffend in the company of her husband … the stories suggest had they not been arrested, they would have continued to offend.”

Nonetheless, Justice Wilson told the court Ms Bamforth “steadfastly maintained her guilt” and unlike her husband had not attempted to shift blame to the victim or partner.

In a letter to the court, Ms Bamforth admitted the offending would have traumatised the teenage victim and may have “ruined the life of an innocent child”.

“It is plain Ms Bamforth accepts responsibility and acknowledges the wicked behaviour engaged in by her and Mr Bamforth with this victim,” Justice Wilson said.

Ms Bamforth gave brief evidence on Wednesday about the recent completion of her chemotherapy treatment having entered into remission following a battle with leukaemia.

Pictured sporting a rainbow-coloured bandana from Dillwynia Correctional Centre, Ms Bamforth was seen with her head in her hands as Justice Wilson detailed her crimes.

As for Mr Bamforth, Justice Wilson told the court he did not accept his assertions, and those of some experts, that he was dependent on, or influenced by, his wife.

Instead, Justice Wilson said that, in most cases, Mr Bamforth provided encouragement to his wife and the victim, and engaged in sex acts with the boy on his own.

“Significantly, he was responsible for the filming of the sexual acts and (collating of) videos … which Ms Bamforth later reviewed for sexual gratification,” he said.

“Mr and Mrs Bamforth are equally culpable for the criminal conduct. If either of them was the dominant actor, I find that it would have been Mr Bamforth.”

The court was told Mr Bamforth said he had been abused as a child but it “did not appear to be a reoccurring issue”, and he became a regular drug user.

He had not worked since 1997 when he received a disability pension and during pre-sentence hearings faced allegations he had been violent towards his wife.

The court was told after making disclosures about the abuse, the victim was savagely beaten and threatened with a blowtorch in the presence of Mr Bamforth.

The child was stripped to his underwear by other young persons and photographed before he claimed Mr Bamforth attempted to stab him with a screwdriver, the court heard.

Awaking after being knocked out, the child said he fled from a car containing Mr Bamforth to his father’s home where he confided he had been “beaten by five men”.