Jorge Monasterio, 27: Argentinian citizen jailed after caught up in Manly underage boy sex ‘honeytrap’

A man faced child sex charges after being caught in a honeytrap sting by a group of vigilante Sydney teens using dating apps to lure men into underage hook-ups. See what happened in court.

Jorge Monasterio, 27, was surrounded by seven young males outside Manly Wharf who blackmailed him out of $1000 after he was lured to Manly on the pretence he was meeting a 14-year-old boy for sex. Picture: Jim O’Rourke

A kitchen hand who thought he had lined up sex with a 14-old-year boy ended up being blackmailed for cash after he was caught in a “honeytrap” sting by a group of northern beaches’ teenagers.

Jorge Monasterio was lured, via the gay dating app Grindr, into a meeting with a fictitious underage boy in Manly, only to be confronted by seven young vigilante males.

Monasterio, an Argentinian kitchen hand in Sydney on a working holiday, was then blackmailed into handing over $1000 or he would be dobbed into police, Manly Local Court has heard.

Even though the 14-year-old boy did not actually exist, Monasterio was jailed for 16 months by Manly court on Wednesday after pleading guilty to charges of procuring a child for unlawful sexual activity and travelling to meet a child groomed for sexual activity.

The charges against Monasterio came after NSW Police set up Strike Force Dividing, which investigated a series of personal violence and robbery offences committed by young people, aged as young as 16, on the northern beaches, targeting adults on dating sites.

The teens allegedly used dating apps to lure men as part of a trap to expose them on social media.

Adult victims of the sting were “criminally compromised”, according to documents tendered to court, by being “lured to a location under the guise of having sex with a person under the age of consent”.

While sentencing Monasterio, Magistrate Lisa Stapleton described the actions of the two 16-year-old vigilantes who lured him to Manly as “reprehensible criminal behaviour”.

“It was what some old-fashioned British movie might call a ‘honeytrap’,” Ms Stapleton said.

Monasterio’s lawyer called the teens a “hate group” targeting homosexual men.

He said his client “feared for his life” after he was confronted by the group of young males.

The court that heard on Saturday, January 20, Monasterio engaged with one of the 16-year-old teens via Grindr, before they started have a text conversation via Snapchat where Monasterio revealed he was aged 27 and asked how old the teen was.

A man was caught up in a scam by northern beaches' teens who allegedly used dating apps to lure men into underage sex hook-ups.

The teen replied that he was “almost 15” before they both exchanged numerous messages about male sexually activity.

They agreed to meet at the Starbucks cafe in Manly at noon on Sunday, January 21.

After Monasterio arrived by ferry, he was directed via texts to the male toilets in the public car park under Manly Wharf.

He was confronted by seven young males and asked: “Why are you here meeting a 15 year old?”, according to a police facts sheet tendered to court.

Monasterio was then grabbed by his shirt and marched upstairs to the front of the wharf where he was surrounded by the youths and told that a video of the Snapchat conversations had been made and would be given to police.

He then pleaded: “How can I get out of this? Do you want money?”

Jorge Monasterio was jailed in Manly Local Court. Picture: Monique Harmer

“(Monasterio) was then blackmailed for $1000,” the facts sheet stated.

Magistrate Stapleton convicted Monasterio, saying he had made a decision to continue contact with a person he believed to be under the age of 15.

She jailed him for a total of 16 months with a non-parole period of nine months.

Monasterio immediately lodged an appeal against the severity of the sentence. The appeal will be heard in the Downing Centre District Court on September 16.