Rhys Kember: BMX star in Nutri-Grain ad charged with child sex grooming
An Australian BMX star and wannabe actor who appeared in the Fast & Furious franchise is accused of messaging a teenage girl on Instagram and encouraging her to give him “head”.
Canberra Star
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Top Aussie BMX rider and former Olympic hopeful Rhys Kember’s career is in jeopardy after he was charged with sexually “grooming” a teenage girl on Instagram and encouraging her she should give him “head”.
Kember, 32, has been one of the sport’s most high-profile Australian riders, and earlier this year starred in an advertising campaign for Nutri-Grain which described him as having an “unstoppable attitude”.
Kember spent a night in the Canberra city lockup after being charged on May 11 with the “grooming” offence as well as procuring a child for sexual activity.
ACT Chief Magistrate Lorraine Walker granted Kember strict bail the morning after his arrest, but imposed a non-publication order preventing the press from identifying him.
Ms Walker on Monday amended the non-publication order at the request of The Canberra Star, allowing Kember to be named.
Police allege the star athlete – who once had dreams of representing Australia at the Tokyo Olympics – purchased alcohol for a teen girl and encouraged her to perform oral sex on him.
Instagram messages which form the backbone of the case against Kember show him asking the underage girl for pictures of her “boobs at least” in exchange for buying the alcohol.
Later, “the defendant encouraged (the girl) to give him “head” in exchange for alcohol,” police allege in court records.
It is not alleged the girl succumbed to Kember’s “encouragement” to perform the sex act.
Kember, who has also had a minor showbiz career including work as an extra in Fast & Furious 4, became the subject of a police sting in which investigators working for the AFP’s anti-child exploitation unit set up a fake Instagram account posing as a teen girl named.
An officer, posing as the fictitious teen girl, messaged Kember asking if he could buy alcohol for her.
“I’m not old enough to buy alcohol coz I’m only 14 and hanging to get smashed at school camp lol,” she wrote.
Later in their conversation, Kember wrote, “show me your boobs then”, police allege.
When the girl said she was at school, Kember is alleged to have replied, “You were just in the toilet, do it there”.
“You asked what I want, maybe you will get what you want,” Kember is alleged to have said.
In an interview with police following his arrest, Kember said he thought one of the girls he had been messaging was at least 16 but admitted to asking her for intimate images, according to a police summary of their interview with him.
He denied asking the other girl for intimate photos, according to court documents.
Kember cut the interview short after speaking with an ACT Legal Aid lawyer.
Court documents reveal Kember could also be facing child abuse material charges, with photos from his phone set to be categorised under a classification scheme for so-called child abuse material.
Kember yesterday pleaded not guilty.
He returns to court in August. The charges carry maximum jail terms of 12 and 15 years.
A Kellogg’s spokesman said: “We are deeply concerned about the disturbing charges made against Rhys Kember. We have removed all Nutri-Grain media activity featuring Rhys, effective immediately.”
