‘Johnny Depp’ conman and sex offender busted near Grafton

A registered sex offender and conman was busted by police on the NSW north coast earlier this year after he was caught registering on dating websites

Serial conman and child sex offender Brenton Robert Jarrett has appeared in Grafton Local Court for breaching prohibitions of a sex offender registry.

A SERIAL conman and child sex offender has faced court after he was busted in NSW for contravening the restrictions of a child sex offender prohibition order by signing up to dating websites using fake names.

Brenton Robert Jarrett appeared in Grafton Local Court yesterday where he was sentenced after pleading guilty to four charges of contravene prohibition order.

The court heard the 49-year-old from Victoria travelled to NSW in July this year and failed to notify police in either state, a breach of the conditions of both the Child Protection Register in NSW and the Victorian Child Sex Offender list that Jarrett is both listed on.

According to court documents, the sex offender registrations prohibited Jarrett from accessing the internet for the purposes of using social media or dating websites, and was restricted from assuming any identity other than his birth name.

After failing to register with NSW Police that he had travelled north, and on July 25 Jarrett became a member of an online dating site, using a fake identity, and met a 21-year-old woman.

Court documents reveal that on August 5 Jarrett met a 22-year-old woman through a "Sugar Daddy" dating website, again using another fake identity.

The court heard that NSW Police received information that Jarrett was travelling through Coffs Harbour that same day, and at 5.30pm that afternoon he was stopped north of Grafton and arrested.

Magistrate Kathy Crittenden said in May 2013 Jarrett was convicted in Melbourne County Court of using a carriage service to procure a child under the age of 16 for a sexual act, and had been on a prohibition order ever since.

The court also heard that since 1998 Jarrett had been convicted multiple times in NSW, Victoria and Queensland for a variety of fraud offences and failure to comply with child protection legislation.

Jarrett has previously claimed to be Johnny Depp's brother, US actor Skeet Ulrich and the grandson of legendary Hollywood film director Alfred Hitchcock, and has been convicted of falsely claiming to own a modelling agency to trick aspiring models with promises of jobs as TV weather girls.

Jarrett's solicitor Greg Coombes submitted that his client had an extensive history of mental health issues that had a direct link to his offending behaviour, and that Jarrett was suffering from "delusional thinking" at the time of the offences.

Ms Crittenden noted Jarrett's vulnerability in custody as a result of his mental health issues, but concluded a prison sentence was appropriate.

"Even though you clearly need help with your mental health issues … no sentence other than full time imprisonment is appropriate," she said.

Jarrett was sentenced to 12 months behind bars, with a non-parole period of six months.

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