Magician convicted over child porn

Frankie Houdini awaits sentence on sex charges.

A JURY took just 40 minutes this week to find an Ipswich magician guilty of having a sexual relationship with a teenage girl and making a pornographic film with her.

Franky Houdini, who is a well-known magician, comedian and escape artist in the Ipswich area, met the girl at Ipswich’s Riverlink shopping centre when she was aged just 15.

Ipswich District Court was told Houdini, 37, asked the girl if she was interested in “promotional work”.

Crown Prosecutor Sal Vasta said the girl took his card, told him she was 15 years old and called him the next day.

The court heard Houdini later took the girl to an adult shop to buy sex toys and a department store to buy “sexy clothes” for a photo shoot.

The girl later told police he paid cash for the items and she produced a receipt from the day.

Houdini took the girl to a hotel where he took photos of her posing and undressing before he filmed them having “consensual” sex.

Mr Vasta said Houdini told the girl he would sell the material and share the money with her.

“He told her... it could go on the black market and because she was underage it would fetch a lot of money,” Mr Vasta said.

After the incident Houdini and the girl had a sexual relationship for two months.

Defence barrister Donald MacKenzie suggested the girl had issues with her memory, as she had difficulty remembering dates during her interview with police and her evidence was not reliable.

Mr MacKenzie said his client believed the girl was at least 16 during their relationship as she looked and acted much older.

Houdini pleaded not guilty to maintaining a relationship with a child aged under 16 and involving a child in the making of child exploitation material.

But he was found guilty of both charges just 40 minutes after the jury retired to consider a verdict.

Houdini will be sentenced on a date yet to be fixed.