Gregory Mark Benjamin pleads guilty to child grooming, possessing child exploitation images

A child groomer paid an underage teen $200 for explicit images and videos in an ongoing sugar daddy-type arrangement. Find out how he was caught.

Gregory Mark Benjamin, 59, walks free from Mackay District Court after he was placed on a wholly suspended sentence for child grooming and possessing child exploitation material. Picture: Duncan Evans

A lawyer for a Mackay man who engaged in an ongoing sugar-daddy-type relationship with an underage teen including paying her $200 for explicit photos and videos labelled it “not predatory conduct”.

Barrister Matt Hynes said the teen, aged 14 at the time, had asked his client for money for the sexualised content – but the court heard he encouraged her to send “close ups” of her bare genitalia and chest.

Now 59-year-old Gregory Mark Benjamin will be on the child sex offenders registry for five years, however he narrowly avoided spending time in jail.

Mackay District Court heard the young teen had found out her older sister had been sending photos for money and suggested the same arrangement to Benjamin, who accepted.

The pair communicated for about 13 months with the photos and money exchange occurring over about a month in November 2020.

Gregory Mark Benjamin, 59, (middle, blue long sleeve shirt) leaves Mackay District Court with his legal team after pleading guilty to child grooming and possessing child exploitation material. Picture: Duncan Evans

Crown prosecutor Jessica Guy said the teen sent between 10 and 20 explicit images and videos with Benjamin paying at least $200. Her aunt saw some of the content and phoned police.

Benjamin pleaded guilty to child grooming and possessing child exploitation material in Mackay.

Ms Guy argued for Benjamin to serve actual time in jail, which is the general rule for this type of offending unless there were exceptional circumstances.

Mr Hynes said it was “somewhat unusual factually” in that his client was not “predatory and manipulative” like other offenders.

“This is the opposite almost, of him being in a rather terrible spot in life,” Mr Hynes said, adding it was a case of his client “reacting terribly to a situation”.

“There was an exchange of money … This was the complainant asking him for money in exchange for photos.

He does not have to serve and time behind bars. Picture: Duncan Evans

“I do not cast blame anywhere else other than at the foot of my client.”

The court heard Benjamin had been unaware of her exact age and had thought she was older, but he accepted he knew she was under 16 years old.

Mr Hynes also said his client was suffering from ill health both physically and mentally.

The court heard Benjamin had been assessed as a “low risk of (committing) any further offending of any nature let alone sexual”.

Judge John Coker said Benjamin “should have known better” and should have “acted appropriately” but accepted a “lack of clear deviant sexual ideation”.

Ultimately Judge Coker found there were exceptional circumstances and placed Benjamin on an 18-month wholly suspended jail term to hang over his head for two years.

“It is not a get out of jail free card,” Judge Coker said.

Convictions were recorded.

Originally published as Gregory Mark Benjamin pleads guilty to child grooming, possessing child exploitation images