An amateur photographer has been jailed for at least eight years for raping two teenage girls more than 35 years ago and later sexually abusing young models in his makeshift backyard studio.
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Newcastle District Court Judge Tim Gartelmann on Wednesday said the harm caused to Allan Todd Cameron's many victims had to be recognised when jailing him for 12 years with a non-parole period of eight years.
Judge Gartelmann said Cameron's victims had been isolated and vulnerable when he preyed on them.
He said none of Cameron's crimes could be viewed as an aberration given the number of offences he had committed.
Each victim had lost their trust in others, their self-esteem and had feelings of guilt, anxiety and depression because of what Cameron had done to them, the judge noted.
Cameron, 57, was found guilty in May after a judge alone trial on nine counts of indecent assault and five counts of sexual intercourse without consent involving seven young women between 2011 and 2016.
Cameron pleaded guilty before his trial to three counts of carnal knowledge in 1983-84.
His first victim was 14 and he was 20 when he befriended her at a bus stop as she waited to go to school in 1983. He later raped her once in the back seat of his car near a beach and the second time after her school formal in late 1984.
The second victim was 14 and a friend of his first victim when Cameron went to her house to pick up a Valentine's Day card for the first victim in 1984. He took the second victim into her bedroom and raped her.
Judge Gartelmann said Cameron's next seven victims between 2011 and 2016 had hoped to receive professional portfolios after photo shoots with the photographer but he had "violated their expectations" by preying on them.
The judge described Cameron's denials during the trial as implausible and containing many inconsistencies compared to the "ring of truth" from his victims.
Cameron claimed he had a strict code where rule number one was "don't touch the models" and rule number two was "if in doubt, refer to rule number one".
Photoshoots were held at Cameron's studio in a backyard shed at his Gateshead home or at beach locations.
The photographer asked some of his victims not to tell anyone what he had done because it would ruin his reputation and he was married.
When one victim told him she wanted some nice photos to give to her mother, he positioned her naked on a chair with her legs spread.
A second victim said Cameron grabbed her when she was naked and put her on his lap but when she told him to stop, he told her, "I'm only joking around, it's only play. If I f***ed you, I'd have a heart attack".
Australian Associated Press
