Child sex offender who groomed victim online googled age of consent before sexually abusing one of his victims

A 20-year-old child predator who groomed one of his victims over Snapchat searched “age of consent” on Google before he sexually abused one of his victims, a court has heard.

A Mount Gambier man with the intelligence of a 12-year-old is hoping to avoid jail for sexually abusing two children over fears he may become a target in prison, a court has heard.

The man, 20, has not been named to protect the identity of his victims, with the Mount Gambier District Court hearing he groomed one of them via Snapchat, before googling what the age of consent was.

Prosecutor Tania Stevens told the court the man clearly understood what he did was wrong, despite any intellectual disability he may suffer from.

“Importantly he was asked in the interview ‘what is your understanding of consent when it comes to sex’ and his response was ‘17’,” Ms Stevens said.

“Following further questioning he confirmed ‘you have to be 17 to have sexual intercourse’ before saying ‘I don’t know’ when asked further questions.

“In relation to the second victim, he said he searched ‘can an 18-year-old date a 16-year-old, Australia’,” Ms Stevens said.

A 20-year-old South East man is hoping to avoid jail over fears he will be a target in prison. Picture Arj Ganesan

Ms Stevens said there was a brief overlap with the first and second victim aged 14 and 16 at the time of the offending.

“Rather than terminating his relationship with the second victim following his interview, he asked for her support, in essence, in relation to the arrest, encouraged her to sleep at his house, and that’s when the sexual relationship in relation to her started,” she said.

The court heard the man was arrested for offending against the first victim on August 19, 2021.

He pleaded guilty to one count of maintaining an unlawful sexual relationship with a child one count of possession of child exploitation material and one count of unlawful sexual intercourse with a person under 17.

The accused previously faced a further two counts of unlawful sexual intercourse and one count of incite an indecent act, which were dropped in May 2022.

The man’s lawyer Andrew Sim said his client’s verbal and problem-solving skills were significantly below average.

“Dr White puts into context those findings by saying (the man) was offending with the body of an 18-year-old and the intellect of a child less than 12 years,” Mr Sim said.

Mr Sims said the man was a “very vulnerable individual”.

“He’s likely to be an easy target for other prisoners,” he said.

The man will be sentenced later this month.