Juan Manzano Diaz: Artarmon man guilty of child sex offence
An Artarmon man who tried to groom a child online for sex has faced court.
North Shore
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An Artarmon man has pleaded guilty to trying to groom a child online for sex who he believed was a 14-year-old girl.
Juan Manzano Diaz, 47, from Artarmon, was arrested in April in a Strike Force Trawler raid following an investigation into online grooming.
Detectives engaged online with Diaz as part of the investigation which began in November 2019.
Court documents revealed the 47-year-old believed he was speaking with a 14-year-old girl and he did “use a carriage service to transmit communication … with the intention of procuring the recipient to engage in sexual activity”.
Following extensive investigations, he was arrested and his home was searched. A mobile phone, two computers and other electronic storage devices were seized.
He appeared in Downing Centre Local Court on Tuesday and pleaded guilty to one charge of use carriage service to procure person under 16 for sexual activity.
Two further charges were dismissed.
Magistrate Jennifer Atkinson committed him for sentence in the NSW District Court. His matter will be back in court later this month.
He remains on bail.
Strike Force Trawler is an ongoing investigation into the sexual abuse and exploitation of children facilitated through the internet and related telecommunications devices.
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