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Wesley Harrop avoided jail in the for sexual communication with a child

An award-winning sculptor used a popular messaging app to ask for naked photos and make “graphic” suggestions to who he believed was a 14-year-old girl.

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A predator who believed he was talking to a 14-year-old girl online had a “highly sexualised” conversation with her.

Wesley Owen Harrop, 41, avoided a jail sentence in the Adelaide District Court on Wednesday after he inappropriately used a messaging app as a form of “escapism”.

The court heard Harrop used a fake profile name on the Kik app and started talking to an undercover police officer on June 28, 2019.

“A police officer communicated to you that she was a 14-year-old girl,” Judge Rauf Soulio said during sentencing.

“You engaged in a highly sexualised conversation with the police officer … including requesting nude photographs of her, asking intimate sexual questions of her and making graphic sexual suggestions to her.”

Sculptor Wesley Harrop was a finalist in the 2017 Advertiser Contemporary Art Award. Picture: Tait Schmaal.
Sculptor Wesley Harrop was a finalist in the 2017 Advertiser Contemporary Art Award. Picture: Tait Schmaal.

The court heard Harrop was arrested in September, 2019.

Harrop, of Dernancourt, had previously pleaded guilty to communicating to make a child amendable to sexual activity.

The court heard Harrop who runs his own business as a blacksmith has his nine-year relationship ended after he disclosed his offending to his partner.

Harrop was also a finalist in the 2017 Advertiser Contemporary Art Award for a sculpture he made.

“You have expressed remorse and regret for the pain and betrayal you imposed on her,” Judge Soulio said.

The court heard psychological assessments revealed that Harrop was at low risk of reoffending.

“You engaged in the Kik app in order to have sexual conversations with other adults as a distraction from work and other problems,” Judge Soulio said.

“You described the conversations as a form of escapism.”

Judge Soulio sentenced Harrop to a two-year good behaviour bond of $2000, with supervision conditions.

A conviction was recorded.

Original URL: https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/messenger/north-northeast/wesley-harrop-avoided-jail-in-the-for-sexual-communication-with-a-child/news-story/2e8ca62dc104804c503073f1be9a8c84