Kilkenny man Mate Falanga admits communicating sexually with 11-year-old child

A man from Adelaide’s west who asked an 11-year-old child to expose herself and record it has pleaded guilty.

A western-suburbs man who communicated sexually with an 11-year-old girl via social media has pleaded guilty to multiple sex offences.

Mate Falanga, 25, of Kilkenny appeared in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Tuesday where he entered guilty pleas to two counts of making a child amenable to sexual activity and one count of procuring a child for sexual activity.

It is alleged the offences occurred between October 10, 2020 and September 7, 2021.

The court has previously heard he was arrested after a tip-off from police in New South Wales, where the child lives. It heard he had communicated with her more than 2000 times.

The court has also previously heard the offending “involved extensive sexualisation communication” verbally, and via video.

It heard the girl was using a friend’s Snapchat account when she was first contacted by Falanga, who then asked for the girl’s number and continued communicating with her via text message and Facetime “nearly every day”.

Prosecutors had told the court he asked the “reluctant” child was asked to expose herself, before he exposed himself. He also sought intimate recordings of her.

He also told the child to delete the messages from her iPad so she would not get in trouble.

Falanga will next appear in the District Court in June.