Ex-policeman who produced child abuse material has jail term upheld

The teenage victim of a former police prosecutor-turned sex offender will bear the physical and emotional scars of his offending for life, a judge has said.

Simon Luebbers – who formerly prosecuted sex offenders for Victoria Police – secretly filmed a 13-year-old girl and a woman undressing and distributed naked videos of the woman to other men.

Former police prosecutor Simon Luebbers outside Moorabbin Magistrates’ Court last year.Credit:Wayne Taylor

Luebbers, who is serving a three-year jail term, this week sought a reduction to his sentence in the Victorian County Court.

He was sentenced in October to a non-parole period of two years after pleading guilty to a raft of offences including producing and possessing child abuse material and stalking.

Luebbers secretly filmed the woman over years on at least seven occasions after hiding recording devices in two bathrooms where he knew she would be showering. He also secretly filmed the girl undressing, producing three videos of her that he stored in a secure application on his mobile phone.

His legal team produced evidence from a forensic psychologist showing Luebbers’ mental health had deteriorated during his time in custody and that he had demonstrated a “significantly elevated risk of suicide attempts”.

Simon Luebbers outside court after a hearing last year.Credit:Nine News

The County Court heard Luebbers was genuinely remorseful for his actions, had no prior offences and was of “prior good character” as a long-serving member of Victoria Police.

But on Thursday, Judge Kate Hawkins characterised Luebbers’ conduct as a betrayal of police values.

“You’ve basically shattered, betrayed and violated the life of your adult victim,” she said.

Luebbers produced eight videos and 1116 pictures of her from the footage he recorded of the woman showering. On his arrest, he was also found with 103 still images of her from separate sources.

Luebbers distributed videos of the woman to at least two men, who then sent footage of themselves masturbating to the videos to Luebbers. The masturbation videos were in his possession when he was arrested.

“[The adult victim] will never know how many men have seen these naked images,” Hawkins told Luebbers.

“It’s hard to conceive of a more serious example of this type of offence.”

Luebbers, now 44 and being held in protective custody, joined Victoria Police when he was 24. He resigned in 2022 when he was arrested.

“As a former police prosecutor, you prosecuted offenders charged with sexual offending,” Hawkins told Luebbers.

“When you joined Victoria Police you swore to uphold the right. But instead, you were persistently breaking the very laws you were charged to enforce.”

Hawkins said Luebbers would have a more difficult time in custody because of his career as a police officer, and acknowledged his mental health had deteriorated during his time in custody.

However, she said the nature and gravity of his offending against the teenage girl were “objectively serious” and offences involving child abuse material “must be denounced in the strongest possible terms”.

“She will carry the physical and emotional scars of your offending for the rest of her life,” the judge said.

During an earlier hearing, Luebbers’ lawyer, Tom Acutt, argued for a short prison term with a community correction order, saying his client had been “racked with guilt” after realising the “vast and devastating impact” he had on his victims.

Acutt said Luebbers had attempted suicide when the allegations initially surfaced and had made arrangements for his death benefits to be given to the teenage victim’s family before the attempt.

“He is diagnosed with major depressive disorder and that will only get worse in custody,” the lawyer said.

On Thursday, Hawkins said she accepted Luebbers’ prospects for rehabilitation were good, however he had struggled to access appropriate mental health care while in custody. He was taking part in online psychology sessions at his own expense, she said.

Hawkins said she was required to treat Luebbers’ appeal as a re-hearing and was restricted in her capacity to re-sentence Luebbers by the sentencing provisions of the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria.

She jailed Luebbers for three years, with a non-parole period of 24 months. The former officer, who has served already 134 days in custody, will be on the sex offenders register for 15 years.

Crisis support can be found at Lifeline: 131 114 and lifeline.org.au.

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