Ryan Bayliss jailed for three years for grooming girl, 13, online
A man who groomed a girl, 13, for sex has been jailed for three years to protect children and deter other offenders during an “explosion of social media”.
Central Coast
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An online predator who lied about his age and bombarded a 13-year-old girl with 160 messages, mostly explicit, over 15 days before threatening to send intimate photos of her to her school will spend a minimum of three years behind bars.
Ryan Bayliss, 27, was sentenced at Gosford District Court on Wednesday after pleading guilty to using a carriage service to groom and procure a child under 16 for sex, transmit child pornography and transmitting indecent material.
A further two charges of using a carriage service to procure a child for sex and possessing child pornography were taken into account during his sentencing.
The court heard Bayliss, aged 26 at the time, lied about his age to trick his victim into thinking he was 18 and his advances were that of a “bona fide” relationship.
The casual labourer contacted his first victim by various social media platforms and later via mobile phone messages.
The court heard “from the outset” he tried to establish a level of intimacy and over 15 days messaged her 160 times.
“Over time these contacts escalated (and) he sent her a picture of his erect penis,” Judge Robert Weber said.
The court heard Bayliss repeatedly asked for sex and specified locations where they could meet and the acts they could do at those locations.
Judge Weber said the victim, however, realised she was too young to have sex and blocked him on Facebook.
“But he kept approaching her,” Judge Weber said.
When the victim ceased contact, Judge Weber said Bayliss threatened to send images she had shared with him to her school and sent one picture to her friend, who he also lied to about his age.
The court heard he sent the girl’s friend, also 13 — who was described as his “second victim” — 70 messages in just three days and while they were not explicit towards her they were “praise of her attributes”.
The court heard, however, the messages to the friend were “extensive and heavily explicit” about the acts he wished to perform on his first victim.
Judge Weber said general deterrence was crucial to protect children generally but especially at a time when there was “an explosion of social media”.
“The clear message needs to be sent to other offenders that they will not be tolerated,” he said.
Judge Weber said Bayliss showed no contrition and any prospect of rehabilitation was “at best guarded”.
He said Bayliss provided no sworn evidence of his remorse and it showed a “failure to come to grips with his offending or its effect on the victim”.
Judge Weber sentenced Bayliss to four and a half year’s jail with a non-parole period of three years.
With time already served since his arrest Bayliss will be eligible for release on July 2, 2022.