Bradley Lester Grey, 55, jailed over string of rapes, indecency and child sex trafficking
A man has been sentenced in court after he trafficked a child around Australia to work as an underage prostitute, while he also performed sex acts on a number of women working in his brothel, in which he referred to the rapes as ‘training sessions’.
Canberra Star
Don't miss out on the headlines from Canberra Star. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- ‘Seeking sexual stimulation’ building boss guilty of child sex crimes
- Drunk driver blew 0.19 less than a year after brother’s road death
- Pregnant wedding conwoman released from jail
Former Sydney and Canberra pimp Bradley Lester Grey has been jailed for more than a decade in an unprecedented case of rape, indecency and sex trafficking.
Grey, 55, was on Thursday jailed for 11 years and five months after a jury last year found him guilty of 14 rapes and six counts of indecency.
Following the verdict, he pleaded guilty to trafficking a child around Australia to work as an underage prostitute.
Grey has been behind bars since November 2018, when he was arrested in the Sydney suburb of Auburn and extradited to Canberra.
ACT Supreme Court Chief Justice Helen Murrell said the sex industry was “notorious for attracting and exploiting persons who are vulnerable, whether for emotional, financial or other reasons” and that sex workers were entitled to protection.
“It is important that those who operate sex businesses appreciate that a sex worker has just as much right as any other person to control what happens to their own body,” she said.
“They are not to be objectified and treated as chattels.”
Grey, a former soldier, taxi driver, real estate agent, masseur and gigolo, recruited his first victim, a 17-year-old, at a fast food restaurant in the Canberra Centre in 2013, and lied to her, saying he ran a modelling agency and could get her work as a model.
Within days he took her to Adelaide, where he took out ads claiming she was 19 or 20.
Grey was also pimping out his defacto partner at the same time, and the trio travelled to Brisbane, Mackay, Townsville, Cairns, Rockhampton and Perth, where the teen had sex with 130 men.
She told the court she felt “manipulated, dirty and unlovable” at the time, but was now trying to move on.
The 14 rapes and seven acts of indecency took place at the Canberra brothel Grey was running, Mitchell Mistresses, where he performed sex acts on the women as part of “training sessions”.
Grey’s position of authority over the women and lies to them negated the consent they gave.
Chief Justice Murrell said Grey “took advantage of the (women’s) naivety and the element of surprise and associated shock to engage in sexual activity for his own sexual gratification”.
“To himself, (Grey) may have rationalised his conduct as ‘training’ in the sense of ‘breaking in’ the (women) so that they could cope with the challenging nature of sex work, but that was a very convenient rationalisation.”
Grey will be eligible for parole in 2024.