Once fond of outing paedophiles himself, tabloid television journalist Ben McCormack could be facing a possible prison stint after pleading guilty to child pornography charges.
The 43-year-old former A Current Affair reporter has today pleaded guilty to charges of using a carriage service to transmit, publish or promote child pornography.
It is believed the charges relate to perverted and sick online conversations which Mr McCormack was a part of for almost two years, between April 2015 and February 2017.
In court documents released today, it has been revealed that Mr McCormack frequently told another male adult how he was “a total b (boy) loving pedo” and a “proud ped, proud b lover”.
The pair also regularly discussed obtaining child abuse material, including videos and photographs of children being abused, and where they could possibly access more. According to the court files, a number of images were shared between Mr McCormack and his fellow paedophile friend but police have not been able to retrieve them.
The former television reporter had also sent his chat partner a video of himself engaging in a sex act while they were engaging in sick fantasies.
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Mr McCormack was arrested in April of this year on his way to work at Channel Nine’s studios in Willoughby in Sydney’s north. NSW Police began investigating the tabloid hack after receiving a tip-off earlier this year.
Mr McCormack was well-known for chasing other paedophiles on behalf of A Current Affair, including notorious Hey Dad! star, Robert Hughes.
In one episode of A Current Affair aired in 2014, Mr McCormack is seen on screen admitting that the crimes of paedophiles such as Mr Hughes are “horrific and disturbing”.
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Following his arrest, Mr McCormack was suspended without pay by Channel Nine from his work duties. He has since resigned from the television network.
Following his guilty plea at the Downing Centre Local Court, Mr McCormack’s lawyer, Sam Macedone, attempted to downplay the former journalist’s criminal and perverted tendencies.
“Ben has always admitted to what he’s done, however the facts weren’t exactly correct,” Mr Macedone told reporters outside the court.
“I just wanted to make it quite clear that there was never any images that were traded between Ben and anyone else of any child exploitation material. It was nothing more than fantasy talk, but no transporting of images.
“That’s what I wanted, that’s what we’ve got, so we’re now pleading guilty and we’ll move on from that.”
WATCH THE MOMENT NSW POLICE ARRESTED PAEDOPHILE JOURNALIST BEN MCCORMACK
In the courtroom, Magistrate Jennifer Atkinson told the guilty journalist that he will be heading to the District Court next month for sentencing.
“Your next court date will be on the 6th of October at the District Court in Sydney,” Ms Atkinson said.
The disgraced media star could face a possible sentence in jail if the courts decide to come down hard on him, with the maximum sentence for the offences being 15 years imprisonment.
The identity of the person whom Mr McCormack engaged with in the online chats remains unknown, with no other party yet charged for their involvement.
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