James William Liet pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a southern suburbs high school student

Perverted messages from a 51-year-old man to a high school student before he sexually abused her have been revealed in court.

A father who sexually abused a southern suburbs high school student was exposed after her mother found sexualised messages between the two.

James William Liet, 51, awaits his fate from custody after he preyed on the child, telling police he believed 16 was the age of consent.

During sentencing submissions last week, the District Court heard Liet sent numerous sexualised messages to the 16-year-old victim.

“One of these messages … reads ‘I like that you seem to be OK with me again and I’m going/trying to be a good boy, anything else I’ll let you decide’,” the prosecutor said.

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

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.”

The court previously heard Liet was arrested in August last year after the mother of the victim discovered the text messages between the two.

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

Liet told a psychologist his “impulsive” offending was due to the fact he was under the influence of methamphetamine.

However, the prosecutor disagreed and said the messages over several months in the lead-up to the offending showed it wasn’t impulsive.

“We do accept that this was opportunistic offending in the sense that this particular complainant came to the attention of the accused,” the prosecutor said.

“We are not submitting that this man will seek out children in the future.”

Liet, of O’Sullivan Beach, pleaded guilty to communicating to make a child amenable to sexual activity and unlawful sexual intercourse.

Mark Love, for Liet, told the court his client believed the age of consent was 16 but his ignorance of the law was no excuse.

Mr Love said Liet was using up to seven points of methamphetamine a week during the period of offending.

“It is conceded that maybe the offending is not directly related to drug use,” he said.

Mr Love said Liet’s drug use stemmed from his stepfather being killed in a truck accident.

The court heard Liet was a father-of-three and hoped to return to work once released from custody.

Judge Kris Handshin will sentence Liet next month.