Sentencing delayed: ‘Pedophilic’ former youth leader Brenton Devlin too disabled for prison

A former youth leader who attempted to groom a 14-year-old child is hoping to dodge jail after the courts heard he was left paralysed following a serious car crash.

Sentencing for a “pedophilic” former youth leader who attempted to groom a 14-year-old girl continues to be delayed, after his lawyer argued his disabilities are too “difficult to manage in custody”.

Brenton Devlin, 60, who was involved in a serious crash in 1991, lives with a number of complex disabilities as well as a traumatic brain injury, a court has heard.

Devlin’s defence lawyer Kate Annelles previously asked the court for any term of imprisonment to be served on home detention.

However a suitability report highlighted a number of difficulties with affixing an ankle monitoring device given the extent of the defendant's medical issues.

“My client has a permanent catheter that runs down his leg that is moved from one leg to the other on a weekly basis — because of the risk of pressure sores,” she said.

“Due to his disability, he sleeps on a special waterbed style mattress and there was a risk that the (ankle monitoring device) could catch and cause a hole in that mattress.”

Brenton Devlin is staring down the barrel of a possible jail sentence after he was caught trying to groom a 14-year-old girl. Picture: Arj Ganesan

Ms Annells said she would consider making an application for special circumstances in an attempt to keep a home detention sentence on the table, the court heard.

Ms Annelles previously said her paraplegic client was “essentially a very lonely, intellectually disabled man” who posed no risk to the community.

“(He) was to some extent, expressing fantasies that have no prospect whatsoever being carried out into real life,” Ms Annells said.

According to court documents, the Mount Gambier man repeatedly messaged the child between April and May 2021.

The court heard Devlin posed as a 16-year-old boy after finding out the girl he was speaking to online was 14, sending her a picture of a young male in a Crows guernsey, the court heard.

Devlin previously pleaded guilty to communicating to make a child amenable to sexual activity.

Prosecutor Ben Sturm sympathised with Devlin’s disabilities but said a term of imprisonment was warranted, as it was clear there had been no physical change in the accused between the time of offending and now.

“His permanent infirmity is one that predated this offending, in physical terms he is equally as capable of committing the offence today as he was 17 months ago,” Mr Sturm said.

Mr Sturm argued the Devlin’s charges related to the communications he had with the child and “the effect that they have on the victim”, not whether he was physically capable of carrying out any sex act.

Mr Sturm also questioned a psychological report, which said the accused had a “pedophilic orientation” rather than a pedophilic disorder.

Judge Heath Barklay adjourned the matter and is expected to sentence Devlin in January.