Former A Current Affair reporter Ben McCormack has pleaded guilty to child pornography charges and faces a maximum of 15 years in jail.
The veteran Channel 9 journalist is charged with two counts of using a carriage service to transmit, publish or promote child porn.
Outside court today, his lawyer, Sam Macedone, said that 43-year-old was now on the same page as police regarding his actual charges.
“Ben has always admitted to what he’s done, however the facts weren’t exactly correct,” he said.
“Now that has been sorted out, we’ve entered pleas of guilty and now we’re looking forward to our sentencing date.”
McCormack will be sentenced on October 6th at the District Court in Sydney.
“I just wanted to make it quite clear, that there were never any images that were traded between Ben and anyone else of any child exploitation material,” Mr Macedone said.
“It was nothing more than fantasy talk.”
The veteran journalist was arrested in April when police officers sensationally raided A Current Affair’s Willoughby offices in North Sydney before arresting him.
Several reports suggest detectives seized computers, a mobile phone and electronic storage devices during the raid. McCormack’s unit, located in the suburb of Alexandria, was also searched.
McCormack missed the first court mention of his child porn case due to still being hospitalised a month after he checked himself in.
Mr Macedone told reporters at the time that McCormack was “not in a good place” and wasn’t well enough to discuss his plea.
Channel Nine have been quick to distance themselves from the investigation, with several news bulletins leading with news of Mr McCormack’s arrest and subsequent charging.
A Current Affair host, Tracy Grimshaw, is said to have been devastated by the revelation of his allegations.
“This has been the worst week of my life,” she told close friends when the accusations first came to light. Her friends said she was so devastated at the betrayal of someone she felt she knew, she couldn’t even bear to say his name.
