Perth man sentenced over abusing children as young as two-months-old
Warning: This story contains graphic content.
A Perth man has been sentenced to 24 years and six months in prison after he was found to have abused children as young as two months old.
Michael Brian Becton was sentenced in the WA District Court last week, charged with 77 offenses relating to the sexual abuse of seven victims, including children aged between two months and 13 years.
The charges related to offenses that occurred between 2020 and 2024 in regional towns and Perth’s southern suburbs and included inappropriate relations with a child under 13, rape of a child under 13 and producing child abuse material.
Conflicting details of the crime emerged in court as District Court Judge Hayley Cormann examined a series of incidents in which Becton abused young children, both boys and girls.
Describing one example, Cormann said his aggression was “disgusting”.
“The two-year-old victim actually tells you ‘no’ and gets upset, but you insist,” he said.
The court heard Becton often recorded his attacks on young children and directed them to take photographs.
He was also given a further five years in prison on a Commonwealth charge found guilty of offending against a child in New Zealand.
Cormann said Becton met the child while on holiday in the country and was assigned by her parents to take the 23-month-old girl for a walk.
He then abused her.
The court heard Becton frequently abused children and posted the incidents online, and Cormann said he once committed an offense against a baby who “did not have the capacity to move or take his body away from you”.
“Your attack on the baby is disgusting and degrading. In the course of offending, when you commit a series of degrading crimes, the baby is obviously unsettled and the baby is distressed, but your
“The insults continue,” he said.
“The baby cries and tries to lift himself up, but given his size and capacity, he cannot move away from you.”
A WA police spokesman said detectives worked closely with their federal counterparts to find and charge Becton with a raid on his home in May 2024.
The court heard hundreds of thousands of images were found on his devices when he was arrested.
Cormann was clear at sentencing.
“These are disgusting, disturbing, distressing and devastating crimes and material and my words are completely inadequate to describe the devastation of this material,” he said.
“I am absolutely of the view that this has clearly escalated and become more sustained, more depraved and more involving.”
He sentenced him to 24 years and 6 months in prison.
A WA Police spokesman condemned the attack.
“The Western Australian Police Force recognizes the profound harm caused by child sexual abuse. Crimes of this nature are among the most serious and disturbing the police face. They cause lifelong trauma for children, their families and the wider community,” they said.
“Child sexual abuse destroys lives. Every act of abuse leaves deep and lasting trauma. Every image or video of child abuse represents the true pain of a child.
