WARNING. This story mentions extreme offending against children and may be distressing to readers.
A New Zealand veterinarian who moved to the Australian Outback with his young family to develop his career has been handed a 27-month sentence for possession and procurement of child sexual abuse material, with the presiding judge saying it is “virtually inevitable” he’ll be deported home.
Andrew Wadsworth, who moved to Katherine, Northern Territory, three years ago, pleaded guilty in October to seven charges spanning the period between September and December 2024.
He was charged with accessing, transmitting and soliciting child abuse content – with some involving the exploitation and abuse of toddlers – through various encrypted messaging apps on his phone.
Police executed a search warrant at Wadsworth’s residence and seized his Samsung Galaxy S23 in December 2024, according to court documents seen by the Herald.
The device had a password-secured folder containing various social media apps, including Snapchat, Session, Kik Messenger, TeleGuard and Discord, which Wadsworth used to commit the various offences.
Wadsworth’s interactions included engaging in sexually explicit conversations and sending sexually explicit photos to a Kik user who claimed to be 13 years old, while receiving child abuse material from the same user.
Wadsworth had highly sexualised conversations on Snapchat with another user, referred to as KF, who pretended to be a child engaging in sexual acts with him.
The Crown alleged such conversations, which included KF referring to Wadsworth as “Dad” or “Daddy” and sending him images of herself and young children, were aimed at procuring KF’s children to engage in sexual activity.
In addition, Wadsworth also accessed child abuse material files transmitted by a Session application user and engaged in another sexually explicit conversation with a Kik user, which involved the sharing of text-based child abuse material and discussions about sexual violence against children.
The New Zealander was sentenced in Darwin’s Northern Territory Supreme Court in Darwin on January 14, with Justice John Burns saying it is “virtually inevitable” he will be deported after serving prison time.
According to the court summary of facts, Wadsworth was between 34 and 35 years old at the time of offending, living in the Northern Territory with his wife and two young children.
Wadsworth, a New Zealand national, was born in Marlborough and spent part of his adolescent years on a scholarship at a boarding school, where he was allegedly subjected to bullying by his peers.
The document says watching pornography and using the internet to seek out sexually explicit content was normalised during Wadsworth’s time at boarding school, leading to an unhealthy porn addiction.
After leaving high school, Wadsworth worked in various sectors before undergoing veterinary studies at Massey University.
Wadsworth’s family moved to Katherine in 2023 for him to begin a role at NT Veterinary Services. However, his subsequent arrest and job loss the following year left his wife and children without financial or local support, forcing them to return to New Zealand.
Wadsworth and his wife have since separated, Justice Burns noted, but he acknowledged she was continuing to support him as a father and had organised phone calls with his children.
Wadsworth’s lawyer told the court he was committed to seeking treatment so he could support his family, and his parents – including his ill father – had also given their backing.
Justice Burns said Wadsworth’s guilty pleas mean he’ll “almost certainly lose your professional registration and be unable to practise as a veterinarian in New Zealand or in Australia“.
The judge was also satisfied he’d be deported home upon release from prison.
“I accept that you have no prospect of continuing to live in the Australian community and you have limited or no support available to you in custody in this Territory other than contact with family by telephone,” Burns said.
“These circumstances are likely to make imprisonment more onerous for you.”
Justice Burns ruled against accumulating Wadsworth’s sentences, saying doing so “would lead to a total sentence that exceeds the total criminality involved in your offending”.
Justice Burns sentenced Wadsworth to two years and three months’ imprisonment, backdated to November 6, 2025.
The sentence will be suspended from July 5, 2026, with strict conditions set for the remainder of his time on parole.
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