Business tycoon Ron Brierley charged with new child abuse offences

Disgraced business tycoon Ron Brierley has been charged with child abuse offences three years after a court ruled he was too old and sick to serve time in prison.

Brierley, 87, was granted bail at Waverley Local Court on Tuesday afternoon after being charged with three counts of possessing child abuse material.

The corporate heavyweight was stripped of his knighthood and jailed in late 2021 after pleading guilty to three charges of possessing child abuse material, including images of young girls in sexualised poses.

Brierley had been stopped at Sydney airport and had his laptop searched when authorities uncovered thousands of child abuse images.

Police had raided his Point Piper home and seized one laptop and 12 USBs, which contained a total of 35,030 child abuse images, including duplicates. The youngest of the children appeared to be about four years old.

But in 2022 Brierley appeared to the Court of Appeal saying he was too old and unwell to be properly cared for in prison.

The court agreed and quashed his 14-month prison sentence.

“The resources of Justice Health to deal with a geriatric prisoner are stretched beyond capability, at least with respect to this man,” Justice Des Fagan said of Brierley in the decision.

Get alerts on significant breaking news as happens. Sign up for our Breaking News Alert.