Man pleads guilty to child sex offence

A 63-year-old man has faced Grafton Local Court charged with using a carriage service to procure a minor for sexual activity

Strike Force Trawler detectives arrested a 63-year-old man at Coffs Harbour earlier this year over the online procurement of a child.

A GRAFTON man has entered a plea to a child sexual exploitation charge in Grafton Local Court yesterday

Terrence Edward Laybutt was charged with using a carriage service to procure a person under the age of 16 years for sexual activity and confirmed a plea of guilty.

Court documents reveal that in January 2020, detectives from the Child Abuse and Sex Crime Squad's Child Exploitation Internet Unit began engaging online with Laybutt, who believed he was speaking with a 14-year-old girl and engaged in conversations about sexually-explicit acts he wished to perform on the child.

Laybutt was arrested by strike force detectives in Park Beach Coffs Harbour on February 4 this year.

The 63-year-old's lawyer Hugo Schleiger requested the matter be transferred to Coffs Harbour District Court for sentence, and magistrate Kathy Crittenden adjourned the case to December 7.

Originally published as