Lucas Randall Beatson charged for arranging to meet teen girl for sex at motel
An Upper Coomera man thought he was meeting a 13-year-old girl at a motel for sex, but instead he was walking straight into a police sting. Now he has faced court.
Police & Courts
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A Queensland man accused of making arrangements to have sex with a police officer posing as a 13-year-old girl online, and sending sexually explicit photos and videos of himself, has been freed on bail.
Lucas Randall Beatson, 42, from Upper Coomera appeared in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday morning charged with child sex offences after he was arrested by police at a Brisbane fast food restaurant on Thursday afternoon.
Police from Taskforce Argos allege he was at the restaurant to meet what he believed to be, a 13-year-old girl.
The investigation began last month when police will allege the man made contact with a social media profile of an undercover Argos officer posing as the teen girl.
Police will allege his behaviour escalated to making arrangements for the ‘child’ to skip school and meet him to engage in sexual activity at a local motel.
It will be alleged the man was grooming the girl by sending explicit photographs and videos of himself.
He is charged with using the internet to procure a child under 16 years of age with a circumstance of aggravation that the offender went to a place with the intention of meeting the child and four counts of grooming a child under 16 years of age with intent to expose to indecent matter.
He was granted bail today on the condition that he live at his Upper Coomera home and not access the internet.
He is due back in court on June 27.
In a statement sent to media Detective Inspector Glen Donaldson of Argos highlighted the risk posed to children by online predators and urged parents to watch their children’s online activity.
“Research by the Commonwealth eSafety Commissioner has identified that 1 in 4 children have been approached by a stranger online. This is extremely concerning and highlights the need for parents to be aware of their child’s online footprint and to speak with their child about online safety”, Detective Inspector Donaldson said.
“Supervision is the key to prevention, as is ongoing communication with children about how to stay safe online and the dangers of having online ‘friends’ they have never met face-to-face”.
Speaking generally he said: “Every day Argos has undercover officers working in a range of online platforms to detect and apprehend people who seek to exploit children in our community.
“To those that seek to engage in this predatory behaviour, just remember that the next ‘child’ that you engage may be a member of Argos.”
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