James William Liet jailed for at least 22 months for sex abuse, grooming 16-year-old girl

A father who thought the legal age of consent was 16 and exploited a teenage girl because of his “impulsivity” has been jailed.

A 51-year-old father of two who sent sexually explicit messages to a teenage girl before performing sex acts on her had been consistently “exploiting her” because of his “poor judgment and impulsivity”, a court has heard.

On Thursday, the District Court sentenced James William Liet, of O’Sullivan Beach, to further jail time for his “sexually explicit” and “constant” exploitation of a 16-year-old girl he had been inappropriately messaging.

In October, Liet pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse, and communicating to make a child amenable to sexual activity after he sent inappropriate messages to the girl between May 4 and June 16, 2022.

In August that year, the victim’s mother discovered the conversations on her daughter’s phone and reported the matter to police.

He was arrested and taken into custody before telling investigating officers that he “believed the age of consent was 16,” but admitted he had engaged in unlawful sexual intercourse with her.

Judge Kristopher Handshin said Liet’s messages made “explicit references to performing sexual acts on her, as well as making other sexualised comments”.

The court previously heard Liet talked to the victim, who now lives interstate, about a sex toy and dared her to show it to him.

James Liet pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse. Photo: Facebook

Liet also sent the victim a message saying: “I’ve got a tongue and it never needs batteries or charging LMAO, plus I can do that thing that you liked so much.”

“You maintain that you believed the age of consent was 16,” Judge Handshin said.

“(Your psychologist) expressed the view that your offending does not appear to be reflective of an individual with a primary sexual interest in children, but was rather an opportunistic exploitation of circumstances.

He said that the unlawful sexual intercourse was perhaps influenced by Liet’s “poor judgment and impulsivity”.

“Although I have not received a victim impact statement from (the victim), it seems reasonably clear from the messages I have read that she found aspects of her relationship with you to be complex and, at times, confusing, and that your offending must have had a psychological impact on her.

“Your offending contained at least an element of opportunistic exploitation.”

He said Liet was entitled to a sentencing discount of 10 per cent due to his guilty pleas.

“I have little doubt that you have found the time you have already spent in jail to be a powerful daily reminder to you of the seriousness of the offences you have committed,” Judge Handshin said.

“If it weren’t for your guilty pleas, I would have imposed a sentence of three years and six months in prison, but I reduce that to leave a head sentence of three years, one month and 25 days.

“I consider that a merciful non-parole period is warranted, and I impose a non-parole period of 22 months, which will be backdated to your arrest on August 15, 2022.”

List will be eligible for parole in June, 2024.

Prosecutors asked Judge Handshin to grant an order allowing police to forfeit Liet’s phone, but his lawyer insisted there were personal images and passwords his client should be able to access.

“I have photos of my family, my animals, my cars and I have passwords on that phone,” Liet told Judge Handshin.

“Could the police just delete what they need to and give it back?”

Prosecution counsel said they would make inquiries with police as to whether Liet could have his devices returned to him at a later date.