David John Johnston: paedophile groomed teen before indecently assaulting her in the Southern Highlands

A local man groomed a 14-year-old with thousands of messages – both from him and a fake account he created – before indecently assaulting her a number of times in the Southern Highlands.

A local man groomed a 14-year-old with thousands of messages online – both from him and a fake account he set up to avoid detection and suspicion from his then wife – before indecently assaulting her a number of times in the Southern Highlands.

David John Johnston, 54, appeared in Moss Vale Court on March 29 after being found guilty of four counts of indecent assault of a person under 16 years old and using a carriage service to send indecent material to a minor.

The court heard the Robertson resident was more than three decades older than the victim when he began contacting the 14-year-old victim through a fake Facebook account he created. Under the guise of the fake Facebook account, the offender sent over a thousand messages to the victim “to avoid detection and suspicion”.

David John Johnston, 54, was jailed for grooming and indecently assaulting a 14-year-old girl in the Southern Highlands. Picture: Adelaide Lang

However, the court heard he also sent the teenager 2130 messages using his own name.

Magistrate Mark Douglass said the messages contained sexual innuendos and references to sex which he classified as “an attempt to befriend and condition with an overview of sexual predation.”

“In short, the victim was being groomed by a man (more than 30 years her senior) when she was 14,” he told the court.

The magistrate said the offender minimised the seriousness of the messages when he admitted to the exchanges.

The documents tendered to the court showed the messages from Johnston told the teen “you’re just too good to be true” and called her “smoking hot” and a “little hottie”.

Court documents show the thousands of texts and Facebook messages were sent over an extended period, during which the man indecently assaulted the victim four times. The first assault took place in a public place when Johnston reached down and patted the teen’s breast, the court heard.

The Robertson man was supported in court by family members. Picture: Adelaide Lang

When the victim moved away, the court heard Johnston jokingly said “I’m a bad man”. He said the same thing after he put his arm around her shoulders and patted her breast again in a second assault.

The victim told her friends the third time he touched her breast in a public setting during a local dance, the court heard.

When the victim was 15 years old, the court heard Johnston invited her to go swimming at a pool and asked her to wear a bikini. While she had a towel wrapped around her, the court heard the man ran both his hands up her towel and put his hands on her butt cheeks before she ran forward “so he could not touch her”.

“Whilst it was opportunistic, it’s part of a pattern of behaviour,” the magistrate said.

Johnston had denied the charges of indecent assault, before being found guilty of the charges by Magistrate Douglass, who said the offender showed “no remorse or contrition”. The court previously heard he attempted to blame the victim and focused on the impact of his offending on his own life.

A statement tendered to the court showed the indecent assaults have had an enduring traumatic effect on the victim.

David John Johnston standing with his lawyer close to the rear of the Moss Vale courthouse after a court appearance. Picture: Adelaide Lang

“Due to my age at the time of the offence, and the nature of the offence, the psychological impact has been significant,” she said.

“Guilt and fear have riddled my life in many ways, and severely impacted the ways in which I interact with my local community.”

Despite a number of years passing since the assaults took place, the victim said she still wrestled with the aftermath.

“As a victim, I have an intimate relationship with shame, guilt, anxiety, and insecurity,” she said.

Magistrate Douglass said he acknowledged Johnston’s good character references but they did not preclude the criminal behaviour.

“It’s not unusual for these sorts of offences to occur without others suspecting the offences are happening,” he said.

“Perhaps being likeable is one of the guises perpetrators hide under to commit offences.”

Moss Vale court. Moss Vale Local Court. Picture: Wesley Lonergan

The magistrate noted Johnston had no criminal record and had not been charged with further offences. However, he emphasised “every act that involves the sexual exploitation of a child is serious.”

Magistrate Douglass sentenced Johnston to an 18-month community corrections order, seven months imprisonment and five months imprisonment.

He is scheduled to be released on November 27 of this year.

He was immediately taken into custody and the court heard his name will be added to the Child Protection Register.

His lawyer has already lodged an appeal, which will be heard before the Goulburn District Court.