Matthew Johannas Meyer guilty of sex with child on stolen boat

From a catch-up with girls to skinny dipping then unlawful sex on a stolen sinking boat, this young Queensland man’s afternoon landed him in jail for 12 months.

Matthew Meyer’s eventful afternoon landed him in jail for the next 12 months after he was arrested for unlawful sex with a child.

A young Bundaberg man stole a boat and had sex with a 13-year-old girl in the middle of a river before the boat began to sink, a Bundaberg court heard.

Matthew Johannas Meyer pleaded guilty to unlawful intercourse with a child under 16 and to unlawfully using a vessel in Bundaberg District Court on Wednesday, April 10.

MORE NEWS: Yelling, screaming, banging, shoving earbuds down her pants

Crown prosecutor Annica Fritz told the court Meyer, 18, went with a mate to meet two girls, including the complainant.

Matthew Meyer’s afternoon landed him in jail for 12 months after he was arrested for unlawful sex with a child.

After hanging around through the afternoon, the group bought some pre-mixed alcoholic drinks before heading to a jetty, the court heard.

There they drank the alcohol for some time, and at one point Meyer and the complainant went skinny dipping in the river, the court heard.

After their swim, Meyer boarded a boat moored at a pontoon near the jetty and asked the complainant whether she wanted to go for a cruise.

When the complainant asked Meyer who the boat belonged to, he replied “who cares”.

The complainant boarded the boat and Meyer turned on the motor and drove it along the river before stopping in the middle of the channel.

Ms Fritz told the court Meyer and the complainant then engaged in consensual sexual intercourse for a short period of time.

While Meyer and the complainant were away in the stolen boat, the boat’s owner became aware that the boat was missing and notified police, who came to the jetty and spoke to the other couple who had remained there.

After skinny dipping in the river, Meyer stole a boat moored at a pontoon and asked the complainant if she wanted to go for a cruise.

As this conversation was underway, the officers heard screaming, which upon inspection had come from the complainant on the boat with Meyer, which had begun sinking as they made their way back to the ponton.

Officers saw the complainant exit the boat onto the pontoon followed by Meyer who was naked, and arrested him.

The court heard Meyer was aggressive towards the officers and self-harmed by head-butting the window of a police vehicle, which necessitated a medical review by paramedics.

The court head $313.95 in damage was sustained to the boat’s engine and battery during the course of it sinking.

Meyer was remanded in custody for 374 days before being released on bail in September 2023 with conditions including wearing an electronic ankle monitoring bracelet.

Meyer was released on bail in September 2023 with conditions including wearing an electronic ankle monitoring bracelet.

Meyer’s defence barrister, Allana Davie, told the court her client had “quite a difficult childhood” including periods of homelessness and mental health difficulties.

The court was told he began using drugs through his childhood as a means to “teach his mother a lesson”, which Ms Davie said was reflective of his immature thinking.

MORE NEWS: ‘Disgusting wh—’: Man jailed after failed drowning, suffocation, bashing

Judge John Allen KC ruled that, given Meyer’s youth and lack of relevant criminal history, the 12 months he had served in presentence custody was “more than required” to serve as a penalty for his offending, and to punish him further would be unjust.

Meyer was convicted and not further punished on both offences, and ordered to pay $313.95 compensation to the owner of the boat he had damaged.