Calamvale man Christopher Michael Pollard, 29, jailed for two years for grooming child online
A 30-year-old Brisbane man has been sentenced to two years’ jail for grooming a minor and soliciting and possessing child pornography. But not before a court heard disturbing snippets of conversations he had with a 12-year-old girl.
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A “SOCIALLY awkward” and maladjusted 30-year-old from Brisbane’s outer south groomed a 12-year-old girl for sex on Instagram over a six-week period, repeatedly asking her for nudes and leading the conversation in a sexual direction.
Calamvale resident Christopher Michael Pollard, a small man in a neat suit, sat impassive in the glass dock as he was jailed for two years for using a carriage service to groom a minor, using a carriage service to solicit child pornography (both Commonwealth offences), and possessing child pornography. He pleaded guilty to the three charges.
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Pollard will be released from jail in six months on a $500, two-year good behaviour bond. His mother wept silently in court for much of the proceedings.
Commonwealth prosecutor Gabriel Perry read the court a disturbing snippet of conversation he said was typical of Pollard’s modus operandi between April 10 – May 25, 2017:
Pollard: “No morning sex for you.”
Girl: “One day, not at my age.”
P: “Well, we can do night sex then.”
G: “No not even that.”
P: “Oh well, afternoon sex.”
G: “You know I’m too young.”
P: “I know babe, I’m only joking.”
Mr Perry said it was Pollard’s “jocular” tone making light of the situation which made the offending “cautious, persistent, insidious, manipulative”.
“He preys upon the child’s low self-esteem and (positions himself as) someone she can confide in,” Mr Perry said.
The court heard Pollard asked the 12-year-old girl for nude or partially nude photos on six occasions and a friend of hers once. When a search warrant was executed on Pollard’s home after the girl’s mother discovered the messages, police found three pornographic images of a different child on his phone.
There was some disagreement between Mr Perry and the defence as to whether the messages had stopped entirely by the time the girl’s mother found out, but it was agreed they had petered.
It was submitted on Pollard’s behalf there was no suggestion of “highly sexualised” acts such as masturbation involved and no positive action taken to secure a meeting with the girl.
The court heard Pollard had previously been convicted of possessing child exploitation material and soliciting child pornography when he was aged 18. Then, he was allowed to serve his 12-month sentence in the community by way of Intensive Correction Order.
Here, Pollard was not so lucky. Two mobile phones used to solicit the girl were also confiscated.