Home

Christopher Anderson: Sentence date set for Geraldton payphone harasser found with child exploitation material

Lachlan AllenGeraldton Guardian
A Geraldton man used payphones to make harassing phonecalls.
Camera IconA Geraldton man used payphones to make harassing phonecalls. Credit: Jessica Moroney/RegionalHUB

A Geraldton business owner who used public payphones to sexually harass women across the country for almost 10 years and was found with child exploitation and bestiality material is set to be sentenced in March.

Christopher Andrew Anderson was convicted on 17 counts of using a carriage service to menace, harass or offend and one count of possessing child exploitation material after pleading guilty last year.

The 58-year-old man will also be sentenced on one count each of obstructing police officers, cultivating a prohibited drug, pursuing another to intimidate and possessing an indecent article, using an optical surveillance device to record a private activity, two counts of possessing a prohibited drug and three counts of obscene acts in public.

The charges relate to incidents which occurred as far back as 2013.

Speaking at the time of Anderson’s arrest in June 2022, Sen. Sgt. Chris Martin said Anderson had used Geraldton payphones to harass 15 women aged between 22 and 50 across WA and Melbourne.

The 58-year-old also performed sex acts in public while he made some of the calls.

Police found cannabis and child exploitation material, which Sen Sgt Martin described as “some of the most explicit material you could find”, when they searched his home.

A USB drive containing more than 200 files of child exploitation and bestiality material was found in Anderson’s possession on June 15 in West End.

Defence lawyer Julia Gray said they had received a psychiatric report but were still awaiting a psychological report.

Anderson needs to see a clinical psychologist prior to sentencing but had been unable to because of COVID-19 and staffing issues at the prison.

He has been remanded in custody for sentencing on March 1.

Get the latest news from thewest.com.au in your inbox.

Sign up for our emails