Man, 70, met ‘minor’ for sex, but it wasn’t what he thought

A 70-year-old man thought he was meeting a minor for sexual activity, but was in for a major twist which led to his sentencing.

A man has been jailed over a failed plan to meet a minor for sexual activity.

The Wollongong man, 70, was sentenced by the Wollongong District Court on Wednesday after previously pleading guilty to three offences, including plans to engage in sexual activity with a minor.

He first made the comments in a online chat forum in 2022, but has now been sentenced.

Unbeknown to him, the man he planned to meet to access the alleged minors was an AFP officer.

The AFP had launched an investigation and were tracking the 70-year-old after his original conversations in the chat forum.

A man, 70, thought he chatting to and meeting someone who could allegedly provide access to minors, but was really texting an AFP officer.

The man was arrested, and AFP officers have since raided multiple properties, including his home at Mount Warrigal where they found a laptopo with child abuse material.

He pleaded guilty in late 2024 for one count of using a carriage service to groom another person to make it easier to procure persons under 16 to engage in sexual activity, one count of possessing child abuse material accessed or obtained using a carriage service and one count of transmitting child abuse material.

The 70-year-old man has been sentenced to prison time for multiple online child abuse offences. Picture: AFP

He has now been sentenced to three years and four months imprisonment, with a non-parole period of one year and eight months, for his multiple online child abuse offences.

AFP Detective Acting Inspector Emmanuel Tsardoulias said the AFP was relentless in its commitment to apprehend offenders and bring them before the criminal justice system.

“We cannot send a clearer message to offenders – if you engage in these abhorrent activities, the AFP will find you, and you will face the full force of the law,” Det a/Insp Tsardoulias said.

“Planning or engaging in activities that seek to harm children has no place in Australian society, and this investigation should serve as a warning.”

Originally published as Man, 70, met ‘minor’ for sex, but it wasn’t what he thought