A PERTH child psychiatrist who has an “pre-occupation” with urination and was caught filming a 10-year-old boy in a public toilet in Canada has been spared an immediate jail sentence.
Aaron Szen Yang Voon, 42, filmed several boys under the age of 13 at urinals in Perth, Queenstown in New Zealand, West Edmonton in Canada and San Francisco in the US between September 2015 and May last year.
Voon attracted international media attention when he was arrested at the West Edmonton shopping mall in May last year after an angry father demanded to see Voon’s phone and accused Voon of filming his son’s genitals.
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READ NOWWhen police searched Voon’s Perth home and business, they seized electronic devices and found 12 videos and 409 images.
The WA District Court heard Voon had been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome and obsessive compulsive disorder after he was charged.
Voon pleaded guilty to eight offences, including producing child pornography overseas and possessing child exploitation material in Australia, and was sentenced to 18 months in prison, suspended for 18 months.
Judge Alan Troy said Voon’s mental impairments affected his ability to some extent to make rational decisions, but did not completely eradicate his ability to know his behaviour was wrong.
“You must have known what you were doing was wrong. You nonetheless continued with the conduct … and you sought no professional help at all,” he said.
Judge Troy accepted Voon was remorseful and had made a profound contribution to the community through his work, adding he was a person of prior good character.
Defence lawyer Sam Vandongen said Voon was adamant his sexual interest in children did not involve any physical contact.
Mr Vandongen said Voon had spent some time in custody overseas and in Australia, and was treated poorly by inmates and guards, including having faeces thrown on him.
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