Powered by
MOMENTUM
MEDIA
A lawyer serving almost a decade behind bars for child sexual abuse offences has been struck from the roll.
Content warning: This article concerns child sexual abuse offences.
Ryan Richard Hawkins, a former lawyer with BGC Australia and Esther Investment Proprietary Limited, was removed from the roll for what Chief Justice Peter Quinlan described as “abhorrent offending that disregarded the human dignity of his young victim”.
Hawkins pleaded guilty and was sentenced last November to nine years’ imprisonment for 26 separate offences between March and May 2024, including transmission and possession of child exploitation material and indecent dealing with a young child.
When sharing videos online, Hawkins engaged in “depraved” conversations concerning the sexual abuse of children.
“There is no doubt that Hawkins’ particular offending reveals that his character and conduct are inconsistent with the privileges of further legal practice,” Chief Justice Quinlan said.
“His offending was recent, it was repeated and it was sustained.
“And it was not only morally abhorrent; it was in flagrant defiance of the law Hawkins was duty bound to uphold.”
At the time of his sentencing, Hawkins accepted his conduct was well below the standard expected of an officer of the court.
In a letter to the court, he added the community should expect people in a legal position “to conduct themselves in accordance with the law, and with the highest standards of conduct”.
Chief Justice Quinlan said he was “entirely correct”.
“The reputation of the legal profession as a whole would be diminished by Hawkins remaining in it,” the Chief Justice added.
Given Hawkins consented to the strike-off order, Chief Justice Quinlan considered whether he should decide the matter alone.
He decided against it, commenting that the significance of removing a legal practitioner from the roll was “a step properly taken by a Full Bench” of the Supreme Court of Western Australia.
“Just as a person is admitted to the legal profession by the Full Bench, in public, so too should any action taken to remove them be marked with equivalent solemnity,” Chief Justice Quinlan said.
Further, the matter had also been brought to the Supreme Court on the Legal Practice Board’s recommendation, rather than the usual course of first being heard in the State Administrative Tribunal.
At the conclusion of his decision, Chief Justice Quinlan noted “law is a human institution and must remain so”.
“Legal practice, of any sort, rests on a recognition of the human dignity of others,” Chief Justice Quinlan said.
“By his offending, Hawkins denied the dignity of his victims (within which I include all of the children in the child exploitation material). That is not a failing at the margins of legal practice. It goes to its very foundation.”
Justices Alain Musikanth and Tania Jeyamohan agreed.
Citation: Legal Practice Board v Hawkins [2026] WASC 459.
For support, contact 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732), National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028, Lifeline 13 11 14, and Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800.
