Dean Henry Irvine pleads guilty to indecent treatment of a child

A young teen is ‘struggling to see a future without constant darkness’ after she was molested by her father’s friend. The dad could barely contain his rage in court as the defence argued its case.

Whitsunday man Dean Henry Irvine pleaded guilty to indecent treatment of a child over an incident with a former mate's underage teen daughter.

A Whitsunday teen is “struggling to see a future without constant darkness” after she was molested by her father’s drunk mate.

Dean Henry Irvine went into the young teen’s room late one night in mid 2022 after her father had gone to sleep under the impression Irvine had left his home.

But he had returned.

Mackay District Court heard the teen was in bed semi undressed when Irvine, then 30, repeatedly made sexualised comments to her including she was attractive and requested to engage in sexual acts.

He groped her breast over her bra and told her “the best porn was on Facebook” before showing her a five second clip and later touching her buttocks.

The court heard during the offending he left the room, returned and even stayed in the room up to an hour.

Whitsunday man Dean Henry Irvine repeatedly made sexualised comments to an underage teen and groped her.

Judge Suzanne Sheridan said it was “predatory” that Irvine had returned to the home when he knew the victim’s father had gone to bed.

Irvine, a father of two with no history of sexual offending against children, pleaded guilty to three counts of indecent treatment of a child.

Crown prosecutor Matthew Sutton pushed for him to serve actual jail time, labelling it as “persistent sexual contact” against an underage teen.

The court heard it has had a “devastating effect” on her and a “consequential effect” on her father.

“(She) speaks of the devastation mentally, physically, socially and academically,” Judge Sheridan said, of their victim impact statements.

“She refers to spending hours crying and of the feeling of violation not going away.

“She is continuing to receive treatment and is struggling to see a future without constant darkness.”

The court heard her father wrote about his feeling of a “perceived failure for not having protected his daughter”.

The victim’s father could barely contain his rage during the sentencing hearing, speaking out as Irvine’s barrister Scott McLennan made submissions on behalf of his client.

“It’s not a football match,” Mr McLennan told him.

“If this was a football match I would have knocked you out,” the father said.

Mr McLennan tended four character references that spoke highly of his client’s work ethic and the court was told all authors were aware of the charges to which he’d plead guilty.

“My client is extremely ashamed and remorseful of his actions that night,” Mr McLennan said, adding Irvine attributed the offending to his “gross intoxication” at the time.

The court heard while on bail for the offending Irvine had to abide by onerous conditions that had resulted in him selling a successful business he had started well under value.

Whitsunday man Dean Henry Irvine’s behaviour was described as predatory.

Mr McLennan submitted that his client should be given a non-custodial sentence or only a one month stint behind bars because of exceptional circumstances.

Judge Sheridan said it was “not a single moment of touching”, but accepted the conduct was low level for that type of offending – it was however not at the lowest level.

“It involved a predatory element and it involved you re-entering the home knowing the father had gone to bed and involved three separate acts including showing the (teen) a pornographic video, albeit only for a very short time,” Judge Sheridan said.

“I also accept it is relevant that you have recognised following this offending … the need to address your drinking.”

Irvine was jailed for eight months to be suspended after serving two months for 18 months. Convictions were recorded and he will be a registered child sex offender for five years.