Former Sydney cafe owner jailed over child abuse material

Sydney Morning Herald

12 hours ago

Rebbeck came to the attention of police in April 2023 when they identified a Zoom meeting he was logged into. Search warrants were sought and Rebbeck was arrested several months later. In his initial police interview, he admitted to possessing child abuse material, gave police his pin codes and passwords and told them they would find it on his phone under the Telegram account named 'SydF—k'.
Rebbeck pleaded guilty to four child abuse material charges and was called to give evidence during sentencing submissions before Judge Robert Newlinds SC.
He agreed with a psychologist's assessment that he appeared to be in a disinhibited drug-fuelled state during the period of offending due to heavy 'stimulant usage' which affected his cognitive functioning and lowered his behavioural inhibition.
Asked if he believed he had an underlying sexual interest in children, Rebbeck said he did not and that the offending stemmed from the heavy drug use he turned to while depressed.
His barrister, Jeremy Etkind, told the court Rebbeck accepted and was 'horrified' about the things he said, but didn't remember them.
The Crown prosecutor asked Rebbeck if he accepted there 'is a risk you have a sexual interest in children?' to which he replied: 'I guess, if drugs are involved'.
No one 'pretends from time to time they don't have impulses that are bad, but many people don't act on that,' Newlinds said, adding that if Rebbeck did not have an interest in children, there would be 'nothing to control'.
'It's very easy for people to think 'I'm just looking at photos' but all the images are horrible and they're all real children,' the judge said.
During sentencing submissions, Etkind tendered a previous Herald article, which named Rebbeck as the ninth person in NSW arrested by NSW Police under the child exploitation internet unit's Strike Force Packer, formed in March 2023 to investigate a child abuse ring whose members were allegedly hosting and joining video conferences to share child abuse videos.
Etkind told Newlinds he did not suggest the media exposure equalled extra-curial punishment but said it was 'simply just embarrassment'.
'You can't hide from it. It's going to be known by everyone [and] noticed whenever anybody plugs that into the internet,' he said.
Newlinds said that media reporting on child-abuse-related offending served as 'important general deterrence' because it was becoming 'more and more prevalent'.
Rebbeck was sentenced to three years' jail with his sentence partially suspended after 20 months on the condition he enter a recognisance of $100 without security.
Other conditions include undergoing mental health, alcohol and drug treatment.
Strike Force Packer detectives said the paedophile syndicate they discovered spread across Australia and the world, with hundreds of users in Europe, Asia and the US.
Detective Superintendent Jayne Doherty earlier told this masthead the investigation found 'hundreds of people' with a common motive who viewed the sessions and even exposed themselves during the events.
'They have cameras open … so they can see each other getting pleasure from it. In the general person's world, this is unthinkable, but for these guys it's the norm,' the state's top anti-child abuse detective said.
Doherty said the alleged perpetrators used multiple platforms, many of which had gained popularity through the pandemic, and it was unclear how long the sessions had been running.
She described the alleged syndicate as very 'fluid', without clear hierarchy – but one Queensland man had been allegedly identified as a 'host' who shared files.