Warning: This story contains references to child sexual assault, including details and content that some readers may find distressing.
Cody Michael Reynolds, 37, pleaded guilty in December to one charge of transmitting child abuse material and another charge of possessing it.
The former Moriah College English teacher’s home was raided in March 2022 where police found a WhatsApp message thread with a man named “Xavier”.
The pair shared videos of children being held at gunpoint and boys as young as four masturbating and being sexually abused.
Investigators also found 111 images and six videos of children being abused in a hidden folder on his camera roll as well as on his work-issued laptop.
He was immediately stood down from his position at the top Sydney private school and no offences were alleged to have been committed involving Moriah College students.
“People like the offender who access and possess child abuse material encourage and feed an abhorrent market,” said District Court Judge Phillip Mahoney in his sentencing.
Mahoney said he took into account Reynolds’ history and his guilty plea, but said “a clear message must be sent”.
In an affidavit, the former teacher pleaded for no prison time, but accepted he’d “lost (his) place in that decision”.
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He said after leaving work at the Sydney college he would sit in the storeroom of his apartment drinking alcohol and watching child abuse material to delay returning home.
The judge agreed Reynolds has been proactively seeking psychological help since his arrest.
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“He has expressed overwhelmingly genuine remorse for his conduct,” Judge Mahoney said.
“(But) no other sentence other than imprisonment is appropriate.”
He was sentenced to two years and 10 months in jail, with a non-parole period of one year and six months.
Reynolds, who has been on bail since his arrest, showed little emotion as he was led out of the court in handcuffs.
He will be eligible for release in November 2024.
Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).
