Andrew Mellors: Alice Springs pervert released from custody after stalking kids for sex

An Alice Springs man preyed on four children aged 11–13, following them through town while brandishing $300 in an attempt to procure them for sexual acts, a court has heard. WARNING: SENSITIVE CONTENT

An Alice Springs man (not pictured) stalked four adolescents, following them through town while brandishing $300 in an attempt to procure them to perform sexual acts. Photo: iStock

An Alice Springs man stalked four adolescents, following them through town while brandishing $300 in an attempt to procure them to perform sexual acts, a court has heard.

Andrew Mellors, 40, pleaded guilty in Alice Springs Supreme Court to four child sexual offences relating to his treatment of the four children, aged 11–13, in the early hours of July 31, 2022.

The court heard that Mellors, who the previous day had attempted to lure the children to his residence to drink alcohol, and was intoxicated himself, located the youths in Todd Mall just after midnight and yelled to them his offer of $300.

The children followed him to Todd River “because they thought that you would give them money,” Justice Judith Kelly told the court during her sentence of Mellors on May 14.

At the riverbed, he produced the $300 but made reference to sexual intercourse to earn it, which was refused.

Mellors then asked them to perform fellatio on him while he recorded it on his mobile phone, which was again declined.

One child began crying while another threw a rock at Mellors’ head after he exposed his penis, the court heard.

The depraved predator also showed the children pornography on his mobile phone.

Justice Kelly said the children then fled, which was witnessed by patrolling police who, after hearing “rustling” in the bushes but unaware of what had just transpired, issued Mellors a move-on order.

Alice Springs Supreme Court. Picture: Katie Hall

Mellors subsequently located one of the children in the CBD, where he again produced the $300, asking her if he could “kiss her on the lips,” an offer she refused.

Mellors was placed into custody on August 29, 2022, where he remained until his sentence.

Justice Kelly told the court that although Mellors’ early life was marred by tragedy – his mother died when he was 12, his brother was shot dead when he was 15, and he never knew his father – he presented with a good work history and little criminal history of note, save for a conviction for aggravated assault on a woman.

After leaving school midway through year 11, he worked as an essential service officer for Power and Water Corporation, moved on to construction and labouring, and also worked and studied for two years as an Aboriginal health practitioner with the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress on a scholarship.

Aside from his alcoholism, which developed in the early 2000s, Mellors’ offending was inexplicable both to the court and to the defendant himself.

“I am told you are unable to explain what happened on the day of the offending, why it is that you did what you did and said what you did,” Justice Kelly said.

“You had been drinking apparently for about two days. You were intoxicated and you say the offending was not planned.”

Justice Kelly said Mellors still had good prospects of rehabilitation and as such concluded the 21 months he had spent in custody was long enough.

She sentenced him to an overall head sentence of three-and-a-half years, with the remainder to be suspended for an operational period of two years, conditional upon Mellors being under the supervision of a probation and parole officer.

Originally published as Andrew Mellors: Alice Springs pervert released from custody after stalking kids for sex