Bryce Lawrence O’Connor sentenced for arranging to meet ‘13yo girl’ for sex

A young man who arranged to meet up with a “13-year-old girl” for sex was busted by undercover cops, who discovered “vile and abhorrent” videos involving girls as young as two on his phone.

Bryce Lawrence O’Connor leaves Brisbane District Court.

A young man who arranged to meet up with a ‘13-year-old girl’ for sex at a Brisbane hotel has faced court after being busted by undercover cops, who discovered “vile and abhorrent” videos involving girls as young as two on his phone.

Bryce Lawrence O’Connor, 21, faced Brisbane District Court for sentence on Wednesday, where he apologised: “I’m really sorry for my actions”.

The court heard he had “sought out sexual encounters” with two children over a two-month period in 2022 when he was aged 19 to 20.

Judge Nathan Jarro said O’Connor had “persistently” messaged a 15-year-old girl for six weeks and told her he wanted to “hook up”.

The court heard the 15-year-old was never identified, so there was no evidence she was adversely affected.

Around the same period of time, O’Connor had been messaging who he thought was a 13-year-old girl – but actually turned out to be an undercover cop.

The court heard O’Connor sent ‘the girl’ an explicit photo and asked for photos of her in return.

Judge Jarro said O’Connor made arrangements to meet with ‘the girl’ at a Brisbane hotel for sex – after explicit discussions about what they would do together.

He said police intercepted O’Connor at the hotel foyer, and analysis of his phone uncovered “vile and abhorrent” videos in his trash folder depicting girls as young as two being raped by adults.

Defence barrister Craig Eberhardt said the 21 videos and 24 images uncovered had been sent to O’Connor, who then immediately deleted them.

The court heard O’Connor denied having a sexual interest in children, but the prosecution argued he lacked insight into what seemed to be “some sort of interest in children”.

Mr Eberhardt said if his client did have a genuine sexual interest in children, one would expect exploitation material to be “all over” his computer – which had also been analysed by police, but no incriminating material was found.

The court heard O’Connor, who now resided in Wollongong, had been socially isolated at the time of his offending in part due to undiagnosed ADHD and autism.

Mr Eberhardt said O’Connor had lost his mining equipment apprenticeship as a result of being charged, and was “burdened by feelings of deep shame and embarrassment”.

He said O’Connor had engaged in 30 sessions with a psychologist in the last 18 months, and had the support of his parents to move back to Queensland while he served his sentence.

O’Connor pleaded guilty at sentence to one count each of possessing child exploitation material, using the internet to procure children under 16, using electronic communication with intent to procure a child under 16 to engage in a sexual act (and going to place with intention of meeting the person).

Judge Jarro told O’Connor he had placed himself in a “very precarious situation”, as he would be required to serve actual time in custody unless there were exceptional circumstances.

He said O’Connor would also become a reportable offender upon conviction, which will impose significant reporting restrictions for the next 10 years.

Judge Jarro ultimately found that O’Connor, who had no criminal history, had “excellent prospects of rehabilitation” and that exceptional circumstances did apply.

He sentenced O’Connor to 18 months jail, wholly suspended for two years, along with 18 months of probation.