The victim of a former senior prison officer says it is “appalling” and “disgusting” that his abuser’s prison sentence will be shorter than the amount of time he was “tortured” by the offending.
Stewart Iain Berry, a former employee of the state’s Department for Correctional Services, previously pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a child and producing child exploitation material.
The 40-year-old was arrested in Port Lincoln in March 2021 by the South Australian Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team following an investigation by SA Police and the Australian Federal Police.
On Wednesday, Judge Jane Schammer sentenced Berry to six years and five months, with a non-parole period of four years and 11 months, which means Berry could be set for release as early as January 2029.
His ex-husband and co-accused, Matthew Campbell, pleaded guilty to producing child exploitation material and was sentenced in November last year to almost three years in prison with a non-parole period of 17 months.
The District Court previously heard that during a search of the former couple’s Salisbury Park home in Adelaide’s north, police officers found a covert camera disguised as a clock radio positioned in the bathroom, as well as video files of children in various states of undress.
Prosecutors previously told the court the pair met the victim when he was 13 years old through his father, who was working with Berry at Yatala Labor prison at the time.
The victim began visiting the offenders’ address to carry out chores, such as mowing their lawn, when he was 14 years old in exchange for money.
“On occasions the jobs were undertaken, he was often invited to shower at the premises,” prosecutor Karen Ingleton previously told the court.
“That invitation was for the purposes of having him in the bathroom, in the vicinity of the camera.”
Berry was also found guilty of paying the underaged victim to send him sexual pictures and videos, sexually abusing the boy while he slept, and covertly filming other young children in their bathroom.
During sentencing, Judge Schammer told Berry he had tried to shift blame onto his ex-husband Campbell, despite some of the offending occurring without Campbell present.
“I am concerned that you are yet to fully take ownership or take responsibility for the offending and to an extent, shift the blame to others,” Judge Schammer said.
Victim labels penalty ‘pathetic’
The victim rushed out of the courtroom during Judge Schammer’s remarks, before Berry’s head sentence had been handed down.
“I couldn’t sit there and hear that, when I’ve got the rest of my life impacted,” the victim told the ABC outside of court.
“The offending lasted longer than his sentence will — so it’s atrocious, it’s pathetic, it’s f***** disgusting.”
The victim said the lengthy abuse he was subjected to was not something he wanted to think about again.
“The seven years of torture for myself — it was torturous, it’s not something I want to go back to,” he said.
The court heard Berry is expected to receive protection while in custody due to his former role as a prison guard.
