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This story contains distressing content
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story → publish → content
He's described as an elite Scots College schoolboy with a 'big brain', but what this 21-year-old from a wealthy Sydney family did in depraved internet chatrooms is the worst I've encountered in decades of crime reporting.
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I → describe → reporting
Cruelty, violence and the degradation of others are always appalling, but Ethan Ungerboeck's secret life involving child abuse material and videos depicting the torture and killing of animals takes it to another level.
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life → involve → level
Sitting next to him in the courtroom throughout many hearings, catching the stench of his arrogance and entitlement as he twitched through a bargained-down plea deal, I found myself wondering what, exactly, he had done.
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he → sit → what
I've seen deviance, perversion and debauchery in court files before, but never on the industrial scale of Ungerboeck's crimes.
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I → see → crimes
Nor have I seen such a clear appetite - an almost gleeful enjoyment - in the humiliation, pain, terror and suffering of others, whether babies, young children, or cats and dogs.
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I → see → others
If the judge doesn't lock him up next month - and even with the watered-down charges, he faces up to 15 years - neighbours with pets should be on high alert.
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neighbours → lock → alert
But first, let's address the lengthy document that is Ethan Tyler Ungerboeck's NSW Police statement of agreed facts.
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that → let → facts
Its sadism, celebration of shame and depravity, and sheer brutality made me want to cry.
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me → make → shame
Touted as an elite Scots College schoolboy with a 'big brain', this 21-year-old from a wealthy Sydney family committed crimes in depraved chatrooms worse than anything I've seen in decades of crime reporting
His name is Ethan Ungerboeck.
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name → tout → reporting
His offences involving child abuse material and animal crush material depicting the torture and killing of animals are so vile they would bring most decent people to tears
Ungerboeck appeared at one court appearance on crutches
He is described as a 21-year-old university student and former bartender, living at his wealthy parents' $6million, five-bedroom, four-bathroom house in Maroubra - the scene of all his offending.
There, he satisfied his malevolent urges, no doubt channelling that 'towering intellect' so praised by his defence - read: feel sorry for the troubled genius - using technology to penetrate the dark web.
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he → involve → web
Police found everything on a Telegram account with the self-important username ArchivistofArchives, an HP laptop, and a Deepcool computer tower he'd owned since he was a schoolboy in 2016.
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he → find → 2016
He stored files on a USB drive so cluttered with filth and horror that it must have broken the hearts of the AFP cyber officers who uncovered his secrets.
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who → store → secrets
It was 2024, and they were investigating 'The Com', an online community involved in cybercrime, child sexual abuse material, right-wing extremism, terrorism, and sextortion or coercive violence.
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they → investigate → cybercrime
Among these groups were 'Harm Nation', which extorts young girls into self-harm and posts their photos and videos online, as well as the Gore Group, devoted to animal torture, killing and sexual abuse.
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posts → extort → torture
The groups used Telegram, an encrypted messaging service, to trade text, video, audio and other electronic files - often with innocuous names to disguise their depraved content.
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groups → use → content
That's where police encountered Ethan Ungerboeck.
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police → encounter → Ungerboeck
The Police Statement of Agreed Facts on Ethan Tyler Ungerboeck (above, with lawyer Michael Bowe) stands out for its sadism, its celebration of shame and depravity, and its sheer brutality
One of Ungerboeck's excuses to get him off any penalties for violence is his poor mental health and cannabis use
Unusually
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, Ungerboeck's statement of facts, tendered to Downing Centre Court, begins with a caution: 'Warning sensitive and distressing content.
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statement → tender → content
This document contains text-based child abuse material, bestiality material and animal crush material.
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document → contain → material
It further states that the matters described may only be 'transmitted or accessed for the purposes provided by law', meaning that relating the child abuse offences in full detail would risk re-offending Ethan's crimes.
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relating → state → crimes
You won't really want to hear it all, believe me, but we'll give some hints as to its ghastly breadth.
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we → want → breadth
The child abuse material that Ungerboeck was charged over consists of images and videos of mostly naked female children ranging in age from a one-year-old up to 17.
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Ungerboeck → charge → 17
Things are done to children by adults with objects.
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Things → do → objects
Dogs are forced into sexual acts with men and women.
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Dogs → force → men
In one video, a male engages sexually with a snake.
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male → engage → snake
The so-called 'animal crush' material at the centre of Ethan's offences depicts the vivid, brutal slaying of puppies and kittens.
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material → call → puppies
On an Emtec USB drive, Ungerboeck saved 4,034 image files and 101 videos - all of which were downloaded or created when Ethan was a child and 'predominantly' not accessed since he was 16.
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he → save → which
On his Telegram account, Ungerboeck saved 16 videos containing child abuse material, and exchanged messages about a video which depicts kittens being tortured and killed
Ungerboeck's file name for several images is 'loli', involving children aged between four and ten.
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name → save → four
On his Telegram account, Ungerboeck saved 16 videos containing child abuse material and exchanged messages with a user called 'oy mondo' to receive videos of animal crush material.
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Ungerboeck → save → material
The facts cite an 18-minute, five-second video titled 'Dead cats on Sesame Street Volume 2 – f***ed up media productions', a compilation of kittens being tortured and killed.
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facts → cite → kittens
The methods included animals being hanged, beaten, drowned, crushed, nailed, burned and placed in a blender.
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animals → include → blender
Other videos received by Ungerboeck show the torture and killing of monkeys.
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videos → receive → monkeys
His Telegram group chats with others feature their appalling descriptions of violence to animals, including a hamster, a goat and a quail.
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chats → feature → hamster
If he avoids jail, Ethan could remain in the family's luxury home - either the Maroubra mansion (above) or his new 'architecturally designed dress circle' address listed in court documents
According to the documents, Ungerboeck recorded himself singing along to 'existing rap song lyrics which he changed in a way that constituted child abuse material' about a 'baby'.
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that → avoid → baby
In a conversation with another Telegram user, who had his account deleted for making a coded reference for child pornography, Ungerboeck again mentions sexual acts with children.
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Ungerboeck → have → children
He sends user oy mondo a two-hour, 50-minute suicide video of a Russian man shooting himself with an assault rifle.
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man → send → rifle
Police arrested Ethan Ungerboeck in December 2024 and charged him with 17 offences, 12 relating to child abuse material, two to bestiality and three to animal crush material.
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Police → arrest → material
When arrested, Ungerboeck quickly turned on his associates, revealing the groups' secrets and how to find them, boasting to detectives that his entry was 'invite only, you know, similar to drug dealers.
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you → arrest → dealers
You have to know them.
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You → have → them
…and 18 more, not listed.
The Aporia
