Man released after grooming underage girl
An Illawarra man has been released from jail after grooming what he thought was a 14-year-old-girl online- but was actually a cop.
Illawarra Star
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An Illawarra man who sexually groomed what he thought was a 14-year-old girl over the internet was released from prison today.
Steven Don Flynn, 53, was sentenced to an eight month sentence with a one year good behaviour bond in the NSW District Court on Friday after he tried to persuade the girl, who was actually an officer from the NSW Police child exploitation unit, to take a two-hour train trip to Wollongong to have sex with him in a motel room.
Taking into consideration the time Flynn had already spent behind bars, he was released back into the community late on Friday afternoon, with Judge Andrew Haesler noting he was a man of ill health and unlikely to offend again.
Flynn came to the attention of police when he began talking to the ‘girl’ in an online chat room designed for children and young teens in June 2018.
Court documents revealed in the initial conversation, Flynn told the girl he was 42, while she told him she was 14, prompting him to ask her for a photo so he could “check her out”.
The conversation quickly turned toward sex, with Flynn asking the girl whether she had a boyfriend, saying he was “just out looking for a bed partner”.
Over the course of the conversation, Flynn asked the girl to send him photos of herself, and asked her if she “wanted to have sex during the school holidays”.
When the girl said she was only 14, Flynn said that “was OK” and that he would “help her”.
He suggested they go to a hotel together, one with “movies and room services”, and that “no one would know”.
Flynn was unaware of the fact the girl was an “assumed online identity” created by the State Crime Command, and was arrested at his Port Kembla home on January 23.
During an interview with police, Flynn said he talked to teenagers online in order to “scare them” and never actually wanted to meet up with them.
However, Flynn did admit his guilt and told police he was “sick in the head” and that he did not know why he had done it.
Flynn was charged with a single count of using a carriage service to groom a child for sexual activity, to which he pleaded guilty earlier this year.
When handing down his sentence on Friday, Judge Haesler said a report from Flynn’s psychologist detailed that he was “unlikely” to offend again.
He also noted that Flynn was of ill health and had contracted a superbug after being taken from prison to hospital and, as a result, had part of his foot amputated.
“He is vulnerable due to his age and health in custody,” Judge Haesler said.
In handing down his sentence, Judge Haesler also ordered Flynn accept supervision and guidance from Community Corrections upon his release.
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