Warning: This story contains details and content that some readers may find distressing.
A babysitter in Western Australia has been jailed for almost two decades after he attacked 16 children, including a baby who was less than a year old.
Furious parents faced Jareth Harries-Markham in court today for a sentencing that almost brought an experienced prosecutor to tears as he detailed the man’s crimes.
Harries-Markham found his families through Facebook groups and fooled his way into their homes, often as a live-in nanny.
He sexually abused 16 little girls as they slept or showered and recorded it on his phone.
The files were methodically stored and catalogued on hard drives, with sub-folders for every victim.
Some of them were siblings or friends on playdates.
The youngest was an eight-month-old, who was assaulted just two days before 23-year-old Harries-Markham’s arrest last August.
His horrific acts were exposed when two sisters spoke up to their parents.Harries-Markham told police he was “curious” but “gained no sexual gratification”.
Justice Stephen Hall said the abuse has impacted not only the victims but their parents who felt an “overwhelming sense of guilt” for trusting a predator.
He said those whose children are too young to remember, now face the “agonising decision” of whether or not to tell them.
The children will be adults by the time their abuser walks free.
Harries-Markham was sentenced to 18 years in jail.
He will have to serve at least 16 years.
