Twice-convicted pedophile Daniel James Knuth eligible for parole in April

The pedophile son of a politician could walk free from jail in just two months despite being arrested with a gruesome cache of hundreds of child pornography images.

Daniel James Knuth, son of North Queensland Australian Party MP Shane Knuth, pleaded guilty to child exploitation charges at Townsville District Court on Thursday.

The 25-year-old with dwarfism was sentenced to five and a half years in jail for the 593 photos and four videos of child exploitation material discovered on his phone in September 2021, the Townsville Newsletter informed.

He was also caught communicating with girls, some as young as 12, on Snapchat and Facebook.

However, as Knuth has already spent considerable time behind bars, he will be eligible for parole in April.

Knuth (bottom left) is the son of North Queensland MP Shane Knuth (top centre), part of the Australian Party

Knuth was already serving a four-year suspended sentence after pleading guilty to 35 child sex offenses in 2019.

Knuth, 21 at the time, was found to have pretended to be a personal trainer on Facebook to entice young women to send him nude photos.

The charges included possession of child exploitative material, use of a transport service for child exploitative material, and grooming of a child under 16 years of age.

The presiding judge on Thursday said the 2019 ruling granted “incredible leniency” and took into consideration Knuth’s dwarfism.

The court also heard that Knuth was fighting alcohol abuse when police discovered he was failing to meet reportable sex offender obligations.

Defense attorney Jess Horn said Knuth was driven to alcohol after he was regularly called a “pedophile” by residents and was “excluded” from their community.

“He was excluded from his church and experienced several public confrontations, including, for example, being called a pedophile simply when he was crossing the street,” he said.

“Instead, he resorted to abusing alcohol to numb his emotional and physical pain, and when he committed the crimes, he was drinking a bottle of vodka for about two days.”

One of the requirements of the four-year suspended sentence was that Knuth must declare all new social media and email accounts, the abc informed.

Crown prosecutor Nicole Butler recalled a case in which Knuth was asleep and hungover when officers visited his family home to check compliance.

She said Knuth tried to “take” her phone from officers, who discovered that she had created new Snapchat, Facebook and email accounts under false names.

Knuth (pictured with his father) was found in possession of 593 photos and four videos of child exploitation material while serving a four-year suspended sentence for prior sex crimes against children.

“The defendant had used the app to communicate with several girls between the ages of 12 and 16, including a photo of a person in a high school uniform,” Ms Butler said.

The more than 600 items of child pornographic material were also found on the phone.

The court heard that Knuth was arrested six weeks later and police discovered that the 25-year-old had obtained a new phone with about 20 more photos and two videos of child pornography.

Shane Knuth, who wept as his son was sentenced, told reporters outside court: “From the beginning, Daniel recognized that he did the wrong thing and as parents we love him but we don’t condone what he’s done.”

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