Wyee paedophile sentenced over string of child abuse charges

A former tow truck driver who sexually abused three children as young as 10 has been sentenced, with the court hearing of his vile assaults involving lollies.

A former tow truck driver has learned his fate over a string of child abuse crimes against three victims spanning eight years which at times involved lollies and other objects.

The 69-year-old man, from Wyee near Lake Macquarie, was sentenced to 15 years behind bars for 15 offences, including aggravated intercourse sex with a child aged between 10 and 14 as well as a child aged between 14 and 16, an act of indecency against a child younger than 10 and producing child abuse material.

Sydney’s Downing Centre District Court heard the man committed the crimes between the ages of 56 and 64 in Wyee, while the children were under his authority.

Reading out agreed facts, Judge James Bennett outlined disgusting instances of the Myee man undressing the children, showing them pornography, taking photos of them and assaulting them.

On one occasion, when a victim asked him to stop because it hurt, he said “just a little bit more,” the court heard. Another time, the abuse involved lollies and a shampoo bottle. During one offence, the offender typed on a tablet: “how to have sex” and showed the child, the facts read.

The man was sentenced for 15 child abuse charges. Picture: John Grainger

In one offence, between November 2, 2015 and May 2017, the man exposed an eight or nine year old child to indecent material with an attempt to make it easier to procure the child for sexual activity, the court heard.

It heard he was found guilty in a judge-alone trial on February 18 but still maintained his innocence.

During the sentence hearing, the crown prosecutor told the court “a serious feature of this case” was the “considerable breach of trust involved”.

The man’s lawyer said her client had endured a particularly onerous time in prison since February, due to a raft of health conditions, a guard’s serious threat and seeing a prisoner slash a fellow inmate’s throat.

Downing Centre District Court heard the crimes involved three different children. Picture: John Grainger

Judge James Bennett accepted prison was not easy for child sex offenders and said the man “would be doing it tough in jail, especially given his stage of life”.

The 69-year-old man, who was supported in court by several family members, sat stoned faced and leaned forward to hear the soft-spoken Judge Bennett as he gave his sentencing remarks.

He was convicted of one count of committing an act of indecency with a victim under 10 years old, seven counts of aggravated sexual intercourse with a person aged between 10 and 14, one count of aggravated sexual intercourse with a person aged between 14 and 16, two counts of grooming a child younger than 14 for unlawful sexual activity, one count of producing child abuse material, two counts of inciting aggravated indecency to a victim younger than 16 while under authority of the offender and one count of producing, disseminating or possessing child pornography.

The man was sentenced to an aggregate sentence of 15 years jail with a non-parole period of 10 years, and will be eligible for parole on February 21, 2032.