Rockhampton convicted paedophile Maurice James Cox back in prison

A convicted paedophile jailed for the second time in 18 months has been found guilty again but he is still eligible for parole. Warning: Graphic content

Maurice James Cox.

A convicted paedophile with a longstanding sexual attraction to children with impulse control issues has been jailed for the second time in 18 months.

Maurice James Cox, 68, was sentenced in Rockhampton District Court on February 8, 2022, after pleading guilty to eight counts of grooming children aged under 16, eight of using electronic communication to procure children, one of using a carriage service to transmit child exploitation material and one of using a carriage service to access child exploitation material.

He was released from prison in March, 2022, after receiving a three-year prison term, suspended after serving 15 months, having served 433 days in presentence custody.

The suspended sentence was operational for five-years and he breached it within weeks, buying a new phone on April 20 which he used to talk to two girls aged under 13 via video, asking sexual questions and asking them to carry out sexual acts during the Skype video calls, the court heard on July 25, 2023.

Crown prosecutor Caleb Theunissen said on a police check on June 8 they found a phone which contained evidence of the calls, they also found he had created seven social media accounts and two emails accounts.

He said one of the victims was an 11-year-old girl living in Canada and the other was 13, living in Florida.

The court heard Cox procured the girls to masturbate on the video calls. He also possessed naked images.

Cox communicated with the two girls between June 1-8, 2022.

Mr Theunissen said a psychological report showed Cox has had a longstanding sexual deviancy and sexual attraction to children, lacked impulse control, did not express remorse, not willing to take responsibility for his offending and met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition criteria for paedophilia.

“He has proved to be a dangerous recidivist offender,” he said.

The court heard Cox’s upbringing was unremarkable and he had a good work history.

Defence barrister Sheridan Shaw said her client’s family – six children, wife and sister – had cut contact with him.

She said he was a pensioner with no money and was isolated when released from prison.

“He essentially just walked around for three months,” Ms Shaw said.

Cox pleaded guilty on July 25 to one count of using electronic communications to procure a child under 12, one of using electronic communications to procure a child under 16, one of possessing child exploitation material and 10 counts of failing to comply with child sex offender reporting requirements.

He was sentenced to 14 months prison, to start after he has finished the remaining 21 months of his 2022 sentence.

Cox was given immediate parole eligibility, meaning he has to convince the parole board to release him from prison.