By SONJA KOREMANS
AN AMBULANCE officer jailed on pornography charges had been the president of a Southern Downs early childcare centre and worked with youth associations across the region.
Former officer in charge at Stanthorpe Ambulance Station William ‘Bill’ Martin was also hailed as an upstanding member of the public service by the Queensland Government, winning countless awards for his work.
Martin’s career as a trusted paramedic is documented across several pages on his LinkedIn profile, which still remained intact online this week.
Martin appeared in Toowoomba District Court last week and was sentenced to 18 months’ jail after pleading guilty to child pornography charges.
An “extremely large amount“ of child exploitation material was found on Martin’s personal computer during a warrant on his home in June last year,“ Officer-in-Charge, Stanthorpe Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB), Senior Sergeant Damian Grace said.
“It’s very upsetting for the region that they had respected a member of the community who certainly went out of his way to devote time to children and teen causes and who wasn’t the man they thought he was.
“There was a very large amount of images on his computer despite what he may have told friends and family.“
The father of two had volunteered his time to the Stanthorpe Blue Light Association for youth and was the president of the Inglewood Childacre and Kindergarten in the 1990s, according to police and his resume.
An Inglewood Childcare and Kindergarten spokeswoman said members were not aware that Martin had been president of the daycare centre.
“I knew he was an ambulance officer in Inglewood at the time but not that he was associated with our centre,“ the spokeswoman said.
She said childcare centre presidents were required to have a Working With Children blue card for the role, which was introduced in Queensland in 2000.
Martin pleaded guilty to one count of using the internet to access child porn material and two counts of possessing child exploitation material.
The trial was not expected to be held until this Thursday, but was moved when Martin notified prosecutors that he would enter an early guilty plea.
Pending good behaviour, Martin will spend three months in prison and serve a two-year good behaviour bond on release.
Martin was stood down by the Queensland Ambulance Service with full pay the day after he was arrested and charged.
