Leon Ronald Scarffe faces court accused of child abuse and blackmail arising from investigation into Jadd William Brooker
Yet another alleged member of this HIV+ sex predator’s online pedophile ring has faced court – and he has been accused of also blackmailing his young victims.
Police & Courts
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An alleged member of the same pedophile ring that included an HIV-positive predator and a top political advisor used blackmail to keep his young victims silent, a court has heard.
The Advertiser can reveal Leon Ronald Scarffe is the latest alleged sex offender to face court on charges arising from the investigation into Jadd William Brooker.
He is one of more than 10 people arrested, by SA’s Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team, in a still-ongoing investigation into a large group of Adelaide-based alleged pedophiles.
Scarffe, 51, of Mitchell Park, appeared in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Tuesday by video link.
He has yet to plead to one count of persistent sexual exploitation of a child and 10 counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with a person under the age of 17.
Scarffe is further charged with one count of producing child exploitation material and seven counts of disseminating that material online.
He is also charged with five counts of communicating to make a child amenable to sexual activity, and one count of blackmail.
Court documents, filed by JACET, allege the offences took place at Mitchell Park between March 1, 2017 and December 4 last year.
The document allege that, over the three-year period, Scarrfe groomed children online and then recorded himself repeatedly abusing them.
They also allege Scarffe told the children that, if they reported his actions to police, he would send his recordings to their families or publish the material on the internet.
They further allege that, despite his threat, Scarffe had already shared his recordings online with other men.
One of those men, JACET has alleged, was Brooker – who has pleaded guilty to 38 child abuse offences since his arrest in September last year.
Brooker was caught due to conversations, in which he vowed to infect children and adults with HIV, he had online with Michael Drennan – who has been jailed for child abuse crimes.
JACET’s analysis of Brooker’s computers and digital devices sparked the arrests of Scarffe and several other men including veteran Labor political advisor Benjamin John Waters.
Waters has since pleaded guilty to child abuse offences and will next face court in September, on the same day as Brooker.
On Tuesday, counsel for Scarffe said their client would plead not guilty to all 25 charges and asked he be committed to the District Court for trial.
However, as Magistrate Brett Dixon read out the first charge, Scarffe refused to respond with his plea.
“I want to seek further legal advice … I want to speak to my lawyer again,” he said.
Mr Dixon remanded Scarffe in custody to face court again next month.
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