- Evil abuser complained his original sentence was ‘manifestly excessive’
- Sick hairdresser complains that other criminals beat him in prison
A vile pedophile and volunteer football coach who sexually abused seven children has had six months reduced from his long prison sentence, and at a court hearing he was attacked in prison, forcing authorities to transfer him to another prison.
Grant Harden, from St Clair in Sydney’s west, was jailed after filming his sexual abuse of seven children and sharing the videos online with a pedophile ring.
Harden’s crimes were described as “extreme” and the sick child abuse material he produced as “of the most shocking kind” after subjecting his victims, who were as young as four, to horrific crimes.
He was arrested in May 2020 as part of the AFP’s wide-ranging operation against a pedophile ring before he was eventually given a 30-year prison sentence.
After pleading guilty, he was convicted of two sets of offences.
One was for the rape of the seven children and included 26 counts of sexual intercourse with a child under 10 years of age and 35 counts of sexual contact with children under 10 years of age.
The court was told that Harden exploited one of his victims’ love of video games and groomed him by offering to buy him skins for Fortnite.
Grant Harden, from St Marys, has been attacked by fellow inmates after being found guilty of the sickening abuse of seven children entrusted to his care.
The second group of offenses included the use of a transportation service to produce, possess, transmit and advertise child abuse material.
When police confiscated his phone, they found more than 450 videos and images, including material depicting Harden’s abuse and exploitation of children.
His non-parole period was set at 22 years and he was told he would not be eligible for release until May 2042, when he would turn 51.
However, he filed an appeal this year, claiming in part that his sentence was “manifestly excessive.”
The Court of Criminal Appeal, made up of Justices Natalie Adams, Ian Harrison and Peter Hamill, dismissed two of his three grounds of appeal.
Harden gained the trust of children and their parents, creating an environment where he could abuse victims and hide his crimes for his own sexual gratification.
“The possession and distribution of images of sexual abuse, torture and humiliation of very young children, including toddlers and babies, constitutes a serious crime,” Judge Adams said in a ruling published Friday.
He added that Harden had been “looking for more extreme content from those he traded with.”
They found that their sentencing was flawed because the prosecution gave District Court Judge Sarah Huggett incorrect details about the maximum penalty for the material crimes of child abuse.
The error at that time was also not detected by Harden’s lawyers.
In June 2020, the law was modified, increasing the maximum penalty for the crime of transmitting child abuse material through a transportation service from 25 to 30 years.
However, some of Harden’s crimes predate the legislation being amended.
Harden was arrested in 2020 as part of the AFP crackdown on a pedophile ring.
The Court of Criminal Appeal did not consider that he should receive a lesser sentence for that group of crimes.
But they did find that there should have been more overlap between the two sets of sentences.
His total sentence was reduced to 29 and a half years, with a non-parole period of 21 years and six months, meaning he will remain in prison until at least November 7, 2041.
The court was also told that Harden had been imprisoned and had to be transferred to another prison last year.
“He has also been the target of several attacks by other inmates, the most recent of which resulted in his relocation from Junee Correctional Center in late 2023,” Judge Adams said.