Palmerston father sentenced for neglect and abuse not able to freely travel overseas or interstate

A Palmerston father sentenced for the ‘despicable’ betrayal of his children and sexting a 13yo girl has had conditions added to his release from prison. WARNING: Distressing.

A Palmerston father sentenced in May to six years in prison for neglecting his children, physically abusing his daughters, and offering cash and drugs to children on Instagram to fulfil a sick “fantasy to play with a young virgin girl” appeared at the Supreme Court in Darwin on July 18 for a brief sentencing matter.

NT Supreme Court Justice John Burns placed travel restrictions on the depraved father upon his inevitable release from prison, with his non-parole period ending in July 2026.

“There will be a further condition that the offender is not to travel interstate or overseas without the written permission of his probation officer,” Justice Burns said.

Justice Burns also approved procedural adjustments to the man’s sentencing regarding the commencement of his Commonwealth charges, which did not reduce his overall sentence.

The man appeared at the Supreme Court in Darwin while in custody on July 18, 2025. Picture: Zizi Averill generic

In sentencing the man in May, Justice Burns had said the Palmerston father — who cannot be named to protect the identities of his victims — was “motivated by cruelty” in his treatment of his young children.

“You betrayed your children’s trust and the trust of the community in a most despicable and egregious fashion,” he said on May 14.

Justice Burns said the children were exposed to assaults, abuse, neglect and psychological harm, and were not provided sufficient food or clean clothing in a home that had turned to “unsanitary and dangerous squalor”.

Justice Burns said if the young girls moved, their father would throw toys at them leaving them with welts and in pain.

By the time they finally were removed from his care in February 2023, the children were covered in nits, in stained, old and dirty clothes, and with rotted teeth and ear infections.

Justice Burns said the Palmerston dad’s ‘sadism’ and violence was exclusively directed towards his young daughters under the “pretext of parental discipline”.

“Your actions went well beyond what any decent human would have considered to be parental discipline and again smack of cruelty,” Justice Burns said.

The court heard it was vile messages the man sent to a child’s Instagram account in February 2023 that tipped authorities off to his sadistic behaviour.

He also sexted a young 13yo girl.

The man sent a 13-year-old child’s Instagram account “highly sexualised” messages asking if she was a “a virgin, single and offering her drugs and cash if she came over.

He also sent a photo of himself on the toilet with an erect penis.

“(You) suggested that she should move in with you and your own four children and told her it was your fantasy to play with a young virgin girl,” Justice Burns said.

After spending 27 months on remand, he pleaded guilty to failure to provide necessaries of life, assault, and sending indecent messages to a child.

He was sentenced to a total of six years and two month in prison, with a non parole period until July 2026.

Originally published as Palmerston father sentenced for neglect and abuse not able to freely travel overseas or interstate