Darwin man refused bail after allegedly grooming girl

The man allegedly made “direct sexual propositions” to the young girl over the internet, with the prosecution describing the behaviour as “predatory”.

A man who allegedly groomed a 13-year-old girl has been refused bail.

A Darwin man who allegedly made “direct sexual propositions” to a 13-year-old girl, has been denied bail.

On Friday afternoon, the 42 year-old Territorian, who cannot be legally identified at this stage, appeared in Darwin Local Court charged with using a carriage service to groom someone under 16 years of age, transmitting indecent communications to someone under 16 years of age and failing to comply with reporting conditions.

The man was arrested on October 31, 2024, after the court issued a warrant for his arrest earlier in the week.

The court heard the man had allegedly made “very obvious and direct sexual propositions” to the teenager girl, using his mobile device.

His lawyer, Joshua Begpie, said his client was prepared to wear an electronic monitoring device, only use devices which could not access the internet, and report to police twice a week if granted bail.

Judge Therese Austin said the charges were “very serious allegations”. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

But the court heard the man needed a mobile device to organise an upcoming job application.

“To contest these (charges) he will need to get a job to pay for a lawyer to contest these very serious charges,” Mr Begpie said.

The prosecution opposed bail, describing the alleged offences as “predatory”.

The court was told the defendant had a “serious criminal history”, including a conviction in 2018 in which he served a “lengthy term of imprisonment.”

Judge Therese Austin refused bail.

“I accept the Commonwealth charges are very serious allegations,” she said.

“I think it’s a very strong Crown case in relation to the serious allegations where the person that the defendant was allegedly speaking to was only 13.”

The man let out a loud sigh as he heard Judge Austin’s decision, dropping his head into his hands.

He will return to court on December 17, 2024.

Originally published as Darwin man refused bail after allegedly grooming girl