Benjamin James: Paedophile jailed for molesting four young girls
A 29-year-old southeast Queensland man has been sentenced in court for sickening crimes against four children under eight, with one of his victims being just 18 months old.
Logan
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A Redlands man has been jailed for four years for molesting four young girls, one aged as young as 18-months when she was first abused, over a period of four years, and now faces likely deportation to New Zealand.
Victoria Point man Benjamin Kaleb James, 29, pleaded guilty in Beenleigh District Court on Thursday to 11 counts of indecent treatment of a child under the age of 12.
His four-year sentence was immediately suspended, with James, a New Zealand citizen who moved to Australia when he was five with his family, having spent 556 days remanded in custody since his arrest on August 30, 2019.
The court heard James, who went to school in the Rochedale area, graduating in 2008, was aged 22-26 at the time of the offending, which occurred on unknown dates between 2014 and 2019 at addresses at Eagleby and Shailer Park.
His four victims were aged between 18 months and seven years.
The majority of the offending involved James “excessively rubbing, wiping or playing with” the victims’ vaginas, following which he would masturbate to the “visual imprint” in his mind.
Typically he would place a towel over the victims’ heads to obscure their view while doing this.
On two occasions James performed cunnilingus on the young children.
The court heard that when interviewed by police, James admitted he had “paedophilic tendencies”.
In addition to the four-year jail sentence suspended after time served, a total of 556 days, James was placed on two-and-a-half years’ probation.
The court heard he would live at Cannon Hill upon his release, but is at risk of deportation due to his New Zealand citizenship.
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