Jonathon Lester Edwards: Inside depraved paedophile chef's 'abhorrent' plan to lure an American woman to Australia so they could have a baby to sexually abuse: 'I think it's important to start from birth so it's normalised for them'

A young chef plotted to bring an American woman to Australia so they could have a baby together to sexually abuse 'from birth'. 

Jonathon Lester Edwards, 34, from Bairnsdale in eastern Victoria, was arrested in December 2021 after AFP investigators raided his house following a tip-off from the US-based National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children.

The organisation had been monitoring sickening online chats the chef shared with other paedophiles where he described his depraved fantasies of raping and torturing children. 

Edwards hatched a depraved plan with a US woman called Nadia to bring her to regional Victoria to impregnate her. 

Jonathon Lester Edwards (pictured), 34, from Bairnsdale in eastern Victoria, was arrested in December 2021 after AFP investigators raided his house following a tip-off from the US-based National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children

He offered to pay half her flight and said she could live rent-free. 

The pair even discussed having a homebirth so authorities would not know the baby existed.

'I definitely think it's important to start there. From birth so it's normalised for them,' Edwards messaged Nadia.

Some of his proposed acts of cruelty are too disturbing to publish.  

During the 2019 raid, police found at least 6,388 files containing videos and images of child sexual abuse, organised by gender and age of the children exploited in the material, across five of Edwards' devices. 

In August 2022, Edwards pleaded guilty to two counts of accessing and transmitting child abuse material and one of possessing child abuse material, reported the ABC. 

Shockingly, until a fortnight ago, he remained out on bail where he continued to live and work among the Bairnsdale community.  

During the 2019 raid police found at least 6,388 files containing videos and images of child sexual abuse, organised by gender and age of the children exploited in the material, across five of Edwards' (pictured) devices

Handing Edwards a 20-month prison sentence in Melbourne Country Court on Wednesday, Judge Amanda Chambers reminded him of his 'sadistic' plans. 

'You said, 'I prefer toddlers to 10-year-olds because they can tell what's going on and the trouble they are in",' Judge Chambers said.

'You discussed in explicit and abhorrent terms the sexual activities you would engage in with your imprisoned child, including various violent and degrading sexual acts.

'You said, 'I'm a really normal guy outside of the bedroom with good friends, family and a job, part of sports clubs… but behind closed doors we could live our dreams".'

At an earlier plea hearing in the Latrobe Valley County Court, Crown Prosecutor Jake Morrison said Edwards' offending had real-world, knock-on effects.

'The nature of the material that was transmitted and possessed in this case, the Crown says, is of a highly depraved nature,' he said.

'Sharing the material fuels the market for it, but it also continues to victimise the individuals depicted in the material continuously.'