Former SANFL, SACA umpire Brett Allford a ‘serious sexual predator’ and will serve ‘lengthy sentence’
One of the many young victims of a convicted child sex offender has delivered a heartbreaking statement in court, speaking of her struggle to trust older men.
Police & Courts
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A convicted child sex offender who lied about his crimes to continue umpiring children’s sport teams before abusing nine young girls around the globe is a “serious online sexual predator” and a “pedophile with no prospects of rehabilitation”, a court has heard.
Former SANFL and SACA umpire Brett Allford held his head in his hands and sobbed over video link from prison to the SA District Court on Monday morning as one of his many young victims said she was ashamed of the way she was groomed online.
The young woman, now in her second year of high school, cannot be identified, but told the court she never wanted to be labelled a victim, despite Allford’s persistent pursuit of her.
“I am one of the many victims of Brett Allford. I will admit I am completely ashamed of this crime, I am ashamed of letting him take advantage of me, but most of all, I am ashamed to be called a victim,” she said.
“I was manipulated. I knew it was wrong and I told Brett that, but he still found a way for me to feel the need to depend on him.
“Lots of times when I was mentally exhausted from the interactions, I would say that it needed to stop. This is when he would say he would commit suicide without me in his life.
“I was trapped, scared, exhausted. I struggle being around older men because I no longer trust what people are capable of.
“Some days, I wake up and I see myself in the mirror, and I am disgusted in myself. It’s unfair.”
Last year, Allford pleaded guilty to 14 offences against nine girls committed between 2021 and 2022.
He also pleaded guilty to working with those organisations despite already being a registered sex offender, to lying about his status and not reporting to authorities as required.
Allford, 40, of Edwardstown, pleaded guilty to using Snapchat and Instagram to solicit child abuse material.
He was subsequently charged with undertaking child-related work despite being banned from doing so, and with lying to authorities about it over a two-year period.
After viewing a psychiatric report of Allford dating back to 2019 which had been tendered to the court, Judge Paul Muscat said that any conclusions that Allford was not a pedophile and had a low risk of reoffending were “simply untrue”.
“I consider that the defendant, through his behaviour, has demonstrated that he’s a pedophile, and his prospects of rehabilitation are low and he is a risk to the community,” Judge Muscat said.
“He’s an online sexual predator. I take a very serious view of his offending conduct – he is manipulative and he encouraged all of these vulnerable children through the provision of gifts and money. Everything was premeditated, he was recording everything and had downloaded an app that meant his victims did not know he was recording them.
“This is serious online sexual offending. He will serve a lengthy sentence.”
Prosecutors told the court Allford’s offending was detected in the UK after a victim came forward, with UK authorities then working with SA Police and the AFP.
“This man has exploited multiple children across multiple locations,” they said.
Allford will be sentenced later this year.
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