Lawrence Mizzi: Mt Druitt man convicted of child sex

A 48-year-old has been jailed for his brazen sexual abuse of a young girl - with his offending often occurring with her parents in the same house.

A man could spend up to seven years behind bars after being convicted over the “brazen” sexual abuse of a girl just metres from her parents at her western Sydney home.

Lawrence Mizzi, 48, faced up to 20 years in jail after being found guilty of having sex with the girl at her home near Mt Druitt sometime between January and August 2019.

Mizzi pleaded not guilty to five charges, including aggravated sexual intercourse with a child aged 10-14 and four counts of sexual touching.

However, he was convicted on all charges after a jury found him guilty during a trial.

During sentencing, the court heard Mizzi had sexually touched the girl on several occasions and also incited her to sexually touch him over a period of about eight months in 2019.

It was revealed in the lead up to the reporting of the abuse, Mizzi had befriended the girl and initiated contact with her via text, phone calls and Facebook Messenger video chats.

Lawrence Mizzi was found guilty of five child sex-related offences. Picture: Joe Castro

It was heard the messages were on occasions “suggestive”, but when Mizzi was questioned about the communication, he argued the messages were meant for his girlfriend.

The court heard during some of the video calls, Mizzi exposed his genitals to the girl and asked her to show him her breasts.

The man denied the allegation, claiming the exposure of his penis was “accidental” and came about because he often moved around the house in the nude and had not covered up before answering the victim’s calls.

Police alleged the first offence took place at the girl’s house when her mother was present in the living room nearby.

The court heard Mizzi had walked into the girl’s bedroom after advising her mother he wished to speak with her before hugging her and slipping his hands into her pyjama pants.

On another occasion, Mizzi had sent a message to the girl asking her to touch his penis. When he visited her house, he again went to her bedroom and forced the girl’s hands to touch his penis from the outside of his clothes.

In two other instances, the man had again attended the girl’s house where he went into her bedroom and lifted up her shirt before touching her breasts.

Judge Stephen Norrish found the offending to be at a “low level” but deemed the offences to be made more serious due to the age difference between Mizzi and the victim.

Mt Druitt Local Court. Picture: Angelo Velardo

Judge Norrish also found there to be no evidence of “any background of sexual depravity or unusual sexual ideation”.

“There is evidence of some degree of grooming. But I am not convinced that all the communications between the prisoner and the victim were of a ‘grooming’ character.

“I accept the prisoner developed an unhealthy relationship with the victim reflecting an intimacy not appropriate given the difference in age between the two.”

Judge Norrish agreed with the Crown Prosecutor that the offending was “brazen” since it occurred in the girl’s family home, while at least one of her parents was present a short distance away.

He was jailed for a minimum of four years and three months and will be eligible for parole in November 2024.