Ben McCormack sentencing delayed to Dec. 6

Sentencing for former A Current Affair reporter Ben McCormack has been delayed to December 6th so the court can read  Crown and defence submissions.

News Corp reports  Sydney’s Downing Centre District today heard McCormack “sought professional assistance for what he knew was wrong” and the “self loathing” it caused for many years.

The Crown is seeking a custodial sentence for the 43-year-old but Judge Paul Conlon put it to the Prosecutor that the offences were of the lower end of the scale and the agreed facts of the case were not “typical” of the sort of child porn charges the courts normally saw.

“He realised the wrongness of his thoughts … in his own mind, particularly sober, he avoided situations the facts could transfer from fantasy [to reality].”

The court heard the offending took place when McCormack was drunk and would need to satisfy his sexual urges.

In October the former Nine reporter entered guilty pleas to 2 charges of using a carriage service to transmit, publish or promote child pornography.

McCormack was arrested in April, and subsequently suspended by Nine but has since resigned.