Glenn Matthew Johnston, 44, of Wagga, jailed after Canberra child porn raid, child sex grooming
An amateur strongman turned to child porn and grooming kids on Instagram because he was ‘bored’ and lonely’.
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An amateur strongman welled up with tears and gave his mum and dad a hug before the full weight of the law came crashing down on him and guards bundled him off to jail.
Glenn Matthew Johnston, 44, was on Monday jailed for 14 months and 15 days for a string of child porn and online grooming charges, which he says he committed when he was “lonely” and bored between shifts as a personal trainer.
Johnston, previously of Canberra, has been living with his parents since he was released on bail following a raid on his house last year.
He had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of using a carriage service to disseminate an indecent communication, and one count of possessing child abuse material.
The court heard Johnston in February last year began messaging a 10-year-old American girl on Instagram, who immediately reported his creepy messages to her dad.
The dad messaged Johnston to tell him he had reported the messages to the AFP, prompting Johnston to lie and say his housemate had sent them.
Johnston asked his victim to send him pictures which “should be of your body”.
The girl said “no, I am 10”.
He also asked for pictures of her in her swimmers.
Police took control of the girl’s account and continued the conversation with Johnston, who said he was “horny and bored” and encouraged the police officer — posing as the girl — to go away from her mother.
Johnston said he was 20, and asked the girl whether she was in her pyjamas and whether they looked cute.
Justice David Mossop said the officer did nothing to encourage Johnston’s grooming.
A raid on Johnston’s house in October 2019 uncovered a stash of nearly 300 items of child porn on a portable hard drive, an iMac and a Huawei mobile phone.
Johnston told investigators he knew nothing about the messages.
Justice Mossop said Johnston’s crimes were “in the nature of grooming” and “may have turned into more explicit conduct”.
He said the stash of vile material on the computer, hard drive and phone were “significant but not large”.
Johnston told a court-appointed psychologist he began offending when his relationship broke down and when he had “excess idle time between shifts”.
When he was arrested he was “very lonely”, Johnston said.
Johnston hopes to work as a barista after his release from jail.
Justice Mossop said only jail time was appropriate for Johnston’s crimes.
He jailed Johnston for 14 months and 15 days, to be suspended after four months.