Michael Amery: Werrington predator jailed over sexual messages to girl, 14
A western Sydney truck driver who sent disturbing sexual messages to a 14-year-old girl and then unwittingly, to her father and police, has been jailed. The 48-year-old offered to buy the teen lingerie and asked her to go on the pill.
Penrith
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A western Sydney predator who arranged to meet up with a 14-year-old girl for sex, encouraging her to go on the pill and offering to buy her lingerie, has been jailed.
Truck driver Michael Robert Amery, 48, of Werrington, was sentenced to a minimum of 18 months behind bars at Penrith District Court on Friday after pleading guilty to using a carriage service to procure a child under 16 for sexual activity.
The court heard Amery, who was 47 at the time, had begun messaging a 14-year-old girl on Facebook in June last year.
The teen repeatedly told him to stop messaging her and in August, she reported the messages to her father, who then began chatting with Amery using his daughter’s account.
Over two days of messaging, Amery asked about the teen’s sexual experience, if she could go on the contraceptive pill without her mum knowing and if she would like to be his girlfriend, despite knowing she was only 14 years of age.
The disturbing exchange was reported to police, who assumed the teen’s identity via her Facebook account.
Amery continued to message the teen throughout August, with his messages becoming increasingly sexual in nature.
The court heard Amery asked if the teen would like to lose her virginity to him, while inquiring about the type of underwear she wore and if she would ever wear a “G-banger”.
“Are you OK if I was your first?” one of the messages read.
“How about I take you to the salon, get a wax, and a manicure?
“Would you get a bikini wax or a Brazilian?”
Amery continually prompted the teen to meet up with him for a “quickie” and to “cuddle, kiss and hug”.
Despite telling the teen he was sterile, he encouraged her to speak to her doctor about going on the pill without telling her parents to prevent her from getting pregnant.
However, Amery’s plans to meet the teen at Penrith Plaza on September 5, 2019, unwittingly led him into the hands of police.
In a police interview, Amery said he had started talking to the teen to help her with her issues at home and with friends. He said he had wanted the girl to use contraception to “prevent a situation where she would be 14 and pregnant”.
He later admitted he had “f***ed up” and was “ashamed of himself” for going against his psychologist’s advice by continuing to speak to the girl online.
He denied being a paedophile or having a sexual interest in children.
In sentencing, Judge Sharon Harris recounted the teen’s victim impact statement, which detailed the effects of Amery’s “predatory offending”.
“The victim has isolated herself and lost trust in others and become wary of others, even the parents of her friends,” Judge Harris said.
“He was significantly older than the victim and proposing sexual intercourse.”
“His communications were designed to establish an inappropriate relationship with the victim.”
“The offender was persistent despite knowing what he was doing was wrong.”
Citing a psychologist’s report, Judge Harris was concerned Amery had not demonstrated complete remorse for his actions, with him even defending his actions by stating some 14-year-olds were “very mature” for their age.
Also of concern was Amery’s suggestion that the teen had elicited the interactions and that there was “no harm in just talking”.
He was jailed for a maximum of two years and six months, with a non-parole period of 18 months.
He will be eligible for release on parole as early as March 4, 2021 after agreeing to a police reconnaissance order.