Ronald Prasheel Ruebe met a teenage girl at a shopping centre, paid her with alcohol for child exploitation material

A stranger brazenly targeted a 14-year-old girl at a Queensland shopping centre and started a conversation that would lead to 12-months of depravity. Now, his crimes have caught up with him.

Ronald Prasheel Ruebe, 30, used Snapchat to access naked sexualised images of a teenage girl, who referred to him as her “sugar daddy” when telling Child Safety about the arrangement which involved him ‘paying’ for the images with alcohol and cash.

A car service technician, who met a vulnerable 14-year-old girl at a shopping centre and convinced her to trade sexualised images for alcohol and cash, has been sentenced.

Ronald Prasheel Ruebe, 30, pleaded guilty in Rockhampton District Court to one count of using electronic communications to procure a child for a sexual act, one of involving a child in the making of child exploitation material, one of indecent treatment of a child (exposure) and one of possessing child exploitation material.

A total of 24 naked images and six videos had been sent by the girl over 12 months.

The court heard Ruebe first met his underage victim at Rockhampton’s Northside Plaza in February, 2021.

Crown prosecutor Maryam Yousufzai said the girl, who at the time was in the foster care system, was aged 14 when she met Ruebe with a group of friends.

“They exchanged phone numbers and he indicated that he wanted to hang out with them,” she said.

Sometime that day, Ruebe picked the girl and her friends up then “drove them to his house and gave them alcohol”.

Ruebe then picked the girls up two days later and again supplied them with alcohol.

“At the end of the second session, he didn’t drop her home but he dropped her off at the Rockhampton Base Hospital,” she said.

A few days later, the same set of events took place.

The following month, Ruebe procured the teenager to “engage in a sexual act at his house and procured her to send him naked photographs of herself in exchange for alcohol”, Ms Yousufzai said.

They then communicated over Snapchat where he offered her money in lieu of sex.

“She reminded him she was underage,” Ms Yousufzai said.

“He inquired if she was a virgin.”

The messages continued for a year.

Ronald Prasheel Ruebe, 30.

Ms Yousufzai said on one occasion, the teenager asked Ruebe to buy her alcohol.

Ruebe replied he was out of town and then asked what he would get in return before asking “if she wanted to lose her virginity”.

The court heard the teenager indicated what alcohol she wanted and enough for herself and five friends and Ruebe commented that was “too expensive and he was not made of money”.

Ms Yousufzai said the victim told Ruebe he “would miss out”, but then promised to go to his house and commit something – “she didn’t quite specify”.

After this exchange, Ruebe convinced the child to send him naked sexualised pictures of herself via Snapchat in exchange for alcohol.

Later in the year, the victim contacted Ruebe and offered to send him pictures and videos of herself and an adult toy.

Again, the child exploitation material was sent via Snapchat.

On another occasion, Ruebe paid the child $100 for 10 naked sexualised images and a video of the same nature.

Then, $20 for two images and $130 for seven.

Ruebe also sent the girl a Snapchat of his genitals.

The victim saved that image and later showed it to the police.

Ms Yousufzai said the offending was revealed to authorities when the teen was talking with a Child Safety officer and referred to Ruebe as her “Sugar Daddy” and said he bought alcohol for her.

Police then executed a search warrant on March 9, 2022, seizing Ruebe’s phone where he had saved all the content the teen had sent.

Judge Gardiner said he had issues with the references about Ruebe’s character provided to the court, in particular about his “strong moral compass” as “this was a protracted abuse of a child over a long period of time”.

“It’s clear to me you manipulated the young, vulnerable victim for your own sexual gratification,” he said.

Ruebe was sentenced to 18 months in jail.

He must serve three months in custody before the remainder is suspended for a two-year operational period.