Ralph Burgoyne and Jason Burgoyne found guilty of unlawful sex

A Port Lincoln man has been jailed while another awaits his fate after a Snapchat video linked them to having unlawful sex with a child, who tragically passed away six months after the incident.

One Port Lincoln man has been jailed while another awaits his fate after being found guilty of unlawful sexual intercourse with the same child, who passed away six months after the incident.

Jason Burgoyne, 40, faced trial last Friday in the Port Augusta District court charged with two counts of unlawful sex with a 15-year-old girl.

Jason and Ralph Burgoyne faced court in Port Augusta in April. Picture: File

Ralph Burgoyne, 45, pleaded guilty earlier the same day for charges of unlawful sexual intercourse and producing child exploitation material, relating to the same victim.

The court heard the victim visited a Port Lincoln home, occupied by Jason Burgoyne, before engaging in filmed oral sex acts with the two men.

The court heard in February 2022, data files from a Nokia phone were extracted by SA police which contained incriminating Snapchat footage.

Prosecutor Keryn Park told the court that the mobile phone containing the footage belonged to the victim, indicating the child’s ability to unlock the phone for police as proof.

The jury were shown additional videos extracted from the victim’s Snapchat account to demonstrate that they were actively using the app when the unlawful sex occurred.

The court heard the victim tragically passed away six months after the incident and was just 16-years-old at the time.

Ms Park asked the jury to consider Jason Burgoyne’s tattoos, which could be seen in the videos presented to the court.

The courtroom was additionally asked to look at one of Jason Burgoyne’s fingers and consider whether a hand seen in the video was bent in a similar position.

In January 2022, a Uniting Country Housing inspection officer took photos at the property which were also used as evidence, with the jury asked to identify furniture items present in both the explicit videos and inspection photos.

Jason Burgoyne was found guilty of one charge of unlawful sex with a minor and not guilty of the second charge of penetrative sex based on the footage.

He will be sentenced later this year.

Judge Barrett, when sentencing Ralph Burgoyne, noted the vast age disparity between the two.

“This was serious offending by you at the age of 45 against a very vulnerable girl,” he said.

Ralph Burgoyne received a prison sentence of four years and nine months.