Newton and Truong introduced me to their gorgeous five-year-old son.
The two men then proceeded to tell me in great detail about how they had longed to become fathers and, after a difficult journey, ended up having their son via a surrogate mother in Russia.
At length, the men explained how hard it was to get their son into Australia. They told me Australian customs quizzed them for hours at the airport. At a later date, police checked whether the couple had suitable equipment to raise a child: a bed, clothes and bottles.
At this point in the interview I was compelled to ask, “Do you think there was a suspicion that this must be something dodgy? There must be some paedophilic thing going on here?”
Both Newton and Truong smiled at the absurdity of the idea they might somehow be suspect. ‘We’re a family just like any other family.’
On Friday, 28 June 2013, Mark Newton was sentenced to 40 years in prison in a US court after pleading guilty to conspiring to sexually exploit a child, and for conspiring to possess child pornography. Peter Truong also pleaded guilty for his crimes and was sentenced to 30 years’ jail.
thenewdaily.com.au/entertainment/books/2019/03/02/ginger-gorman-trolls-online/?utm_source=Adestra&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Sunday%20Best%2020190303
gaydadsaustralia.wordpress.com/2010/07/14/abc-far-north-queensland-two-dads-are-better-than-one-by-sam-davis/
www.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-10/boy-with-henna-tattoo-network-exposed/5310812
quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2013/07/the-story-the-abc-doesn-t-want-you-to-see/
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5087453/Cairns-gay-couple-Mark-Newton-Peter-Truong.html
www.smh.com.au/national/named-the-australian-paedophile-jailed-for-40-years-20130630-2p5da.html
www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/pedophiles-truong-and-newton-let-childcare-centre-manager-daniel-maher-live-with-them-and-sexually-exploited-adopted-son/news-story/e04ee83331b9205c480665a5d5…
[category global, sexual violence]