Exclusive: Perth Modern board secretary Craig Andrew Donovan facing 15 years in jail after being charged with possessing child abuse material

A board member of one of WA’s most prestigious public schools has been charged with possessing child abuse material after police allegedly caught him uploading “abhorrent” videos to an online storage account. Craig Andrew Donovan, the secretary of Perth Modern School’s 2020 board and a program manager of an IT company that contracts to Rio Tinto, was arrested at his western suburbs home on Tuesday after detectives from the WA Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team — a unit of Australian Federal Police and WA Police Force — raided his property. During the search of Mr Donovan’s house, investigators allegedly found child abuse videos on his mobile phone and a desktop computer that had an attached hard drive. Condemning the alleged videos as “abhorrent”, a joint media statement said “AFP digital forensics members are undertaking a detailed forensic examination of all evidentiary material”. The 56-year-old was refused police bail on Tuesday and kept in custody overnight. He fronted Perth Magistrates Court on Wednesday where he faced two counts of possessing child abuse material obtained via a carriage service — offences carrying a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison if convicted. AFP Acting Commander ACCCE Paula Hudson said: “This arrest should serve as a warning to would-be offenders that you are not anonymous online and crimes committed online have severe penalties in the real world.” The West Australian today contacted Perth Modern School about the charges, inquiring whether Mr Donovan would remain on the school’s board until the matter was finalised. A spokeswoman for the flagship public school refused to comment. However, the former Microsoft employee’s name was removed from the list of 2020 board members on the school website 20 minutes later. The leading academic school also refused to confirm whether the removal of Mr Donovan’s name from the list of current board members on Perth Modern School’s website meant he had been taken off the board, despite there being a photo of the entire group still available online. On the school’s website, it says Mr Donovan “is passionate about supporting our children, our teachers and school leaders to achieve their best”. Fiona Hunt, the executive director of professional standards and conduct at the Department of Education, also declined to comment, saying that “any enquiries should be directed to WA Police”. Mr Donovan, who, according to his LinkedIn account, is a program manager at DXC Technology — an IT company that contracts to mining giant Rio Tinto — is understood to have at least one child at Perth Modern School. The dad joined the board as secretary and a parent representative in 2018 and used to be the president of the P&C at Rosalie Primary School. In 2016, during his time in that role, he was photographed with then-foreign minister. There is no suggestion Ms Bishop knew Mr Donovan or anything about the subsequent charges. Mr Donovan did not speak from inside the dock at Perth Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday afternoon but could be seen through the glass, looking down at the floor, for most of the proceedings. The court was told the Commonwealth Prosecution, for whom James Flexman appeared via telephone, needed time to go through the two devices taken from Mr Donovan. While bail was not opposed, with prosecution and defence largely agreeing on conditions for bail, Mr Flexman did ask that the accused be required to report to Mandurah Police Station twice a week. But duty lawyer Dylan Evans argued there was “no suggestion he (Mr Donovan) won’t show up to court”, given his lack of criminal history. “Mr Donovan works four days a week. He is able to report once a week,” Mr Evans told the court. “He’s cooperated with police ... he’s got no prior records.” Magistrate Tanya Watt granted bail on the condition he not have access to any child under 16 and that he not use the internet except for work, banking and communicating with his lawyers and direct family members. He is also not allowed within 1km of Perth Airport’s domestic or international terminals, must surrender his passports and is required to report weekly to Mandurah Police Station — where The West Australian spotted Mr Donovan this morning. His next court date is set for July 3. He was contacted for comment. The WA JACET is a unit comprised of Australian Federal Police and WA Police officers and investigators and tasked with tackling the insidious industry of online child exploitation. AFPSnr Const. Adrian Guadagnuolo, of the WA JACET,highlighted the damage caused by the sharing of child abuse material. “Abuse causes irrepar-able damage to the victims and their families and it is heartbreaking to think innocent young children are being injured to satisfy an offender’s depraved wishes and make a profit,” he said. Anyone who has information about people involved in the possession or sharing of child exploitation material is urged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.