‘Send nudes’. Pervert walks free for grooming schoolgirl

A “foolish” customer service worker who groomed a vulnerable schoolgirl online by sending her explicit photos and videos, then met her to have sex, has walked free from court.

Jamie Ryan Austin outside court on Tuesday. Picture: Steve Pohlner

A “foolish” customer service worker who groomed a vulnerable schoolgirl online by sending her explicit photos and videos, then met her to have sex, has walked free from court on a suspended sentence.

Jamie Ryan Austin appeared in the District Court in Brisbane on Monday before Judge Nathan Jarro where he pleaded guilty to two charges: using the internet to procure children under 16 and intentionally meeting a child, and grooming a child aged under 16 and exposing them to indecent matter.

In sentencing Judge Jarro told the 23-year-old that “people who commit offences against children deserve contempt and must face the full impact” of the law “not only as punishment but to deter others from committing these sorts of offences”.

“The sentence I impose today must make it clear that the community acting through the court denounces the sort of conduct you are involved in,” Judge Jarro said.

Austin, from the Brisbane suburb of Drewvale, was sentenced to a wholly-suspended 18 months jail term, suspended for two years, with a conviction recorded for the first offence and to two years’ probation for grooming.

Judge Jarro said Austin had shown his case was one of “exceptional circumstances” due to his unblemished rap sheet and his clean record while on bail.

Jamie Ryan Austin. Picture: Steve Pohlner

“Mr Austin, your actions - I suspect you can appreciate - were absolutely foolish,” Judge Jarro told him.

The court heard that last year the 13 year-old girl connected with Austin online and the two began communicating.

“During the initial conversation ... you sent her a photograph of your penis and she told you to stop because she was only 13 years of age, and removed you,” Judge Jarro said.

During the same period, he told her that he was 22 years old and continued to communicate with her.

Austin began “sexually explicit conversations” with the girl including sending her “several photos and videos of your penis, which included you masturbating”, Judge Jarro said.

The girl sent Austin “several” naked selfies, at his request, which resulted in the charge of using electronic communications to procure a child.

A couple of weeks later he discussed having sex with her at his house and the pair met in person.

The schoolgirl victim brought her friend along, and luckily, the meeting was cut short when “her friend became concerned and called her mum”, Judge Jarro said.

“The victim contacted police as she was lost,” the court heard.

Later that night and into the next day Austin messaged the victim online telling her he was worried he would “get into trouble”.

The victim replied that her parents and the police knew what had happened.

Three weeks later, police executed a search warrant at Austin’s Drewvale home and he was charged and released on bail.

Austin, who lives with his mum, wrote a letter of apology to the victim’s parents, the court heard.

“She has the support to overcome and not to let the poor behaviours or actions hinder her goals in future,” Judge Jarro told Austin.

Defence lawyer John Fraser told the court that Austin had mental health struggles at the time of the crime and had been suicidal, hitting his head repeatedly against a wall in a cry for help during a night out with mates.