Troy Harris allegedly sent indecent material to minor
A Macarthur man will front the district court court after he allegedly sent indecent material to someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl on four different occasions.
Macarthur
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A Macarthur man who police allege sent indecent material to someone he thought was a 14-year-old is facing 10 years behind bars if found guilty.
Troy Harold Harris, 36, appeared in Picton Local Court via video link on Tuesday charged with four counts of using a carriage service to send indecent material to a person under 16 years old.
The court heard Mr Harris’s matter has been elected by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, meaning the matter will be dealt with in the District Court.
Police allege the Glen Alpine resident used a carriage service to send indecent material to a fictitious person whom he believed to be a 14-year-old on four occasions between November last year and June.
On the last occasion, the court heard Mr Harris allegedly sent photos to the “underage” recipient, one of which showed “exposed genitals”.
Mr Harris’s lawyer Rylie Hahn-Hamilton applied for bail on behalf of her client and told the court he was not a risk to the community because he had only allegedly engaged in one indecent exchange.
“There is no evidence of chats with any other underage people,” she said.
“There is no request for a meeting or any attempt to do so in any shape or form.”
Ms Hahn-Hamilton said Mr Harris was a “person of good character” with strong community ties and argued his bail could prohibit him from being left alone with anyone under 18 years of age.
However, the court heard Mr Harris’s family situation increased the likelihood of having underage persons in his home.
The police prosecutor emphasised the difficulty for police in ensuring Mr Harris was unable to be alone with minors or unable to access the internet.
“This type of offending is notoriously difficult to monitor on bail,” she said.
The court heard the prosecution was concerned Mr Harris would reoffend in a similar manner if granted bail.
“Any bail conditions the court might impose could not adequately mitigate the risk to the community,” the prosecutor concluded.
Magistrate Mark Douglass agreed it was “very difficult” to try to bar someone from using the internet.
He said the court was concerned about the risk Mr Harris may pose to “young people, who are quite vulnerable”.
“The nature of this particular type of offending is serious and sexual,” he said.
The magistrate determined there was an “unacceptable risk” of Mr Harris committing a further serious offence and refused to grant bail.
Mr Harris is due to appear in Campbelltown District Court on November 24.
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