Jayden Hudson Thorpe on trial for allegedly kidnapping two underage girls during a joyride in Upper Hunter

A jury has heard a Hunter-based indigenous education officer took two underage girls on a joyride, plied them with drugs before taking them to a place where people went to “hook up”.

Jayden Thorpe is on trial in Newcastle District Court. Supplied Amy Ziniak

A jury has heard a Hunter-based indigenous education officer took two underage girls on a joyride and plied them with drugs before taking them to a well known place where people went to “hook up”.

Former Muswellbrook Rams rugby league captain-coach Jayden Hudson Thorpe, 32, is facing trial in Newcastle District Court, having pleaded not guilty to two charges of take and detain a person with intent to obtain advantage and two counts of drug supply.

The court heard those charges related to picking up two girls in his car in the Upper Hunter - aged 15 and 16 - on the morning of February 7, 2023 and supplying them with MDMA.

The court also heard Thorpe, who was from Cliftleigh, had already pleaded guilty to supplying cocaine to both girls that same day.

He had also admitted to a charge of procure a child for unlawful sexual activity which related to another underage girl - aged 14 - he contacted on Snapchat that same morning at 3am where he bombarded her with sexually explicit messages.

Former education officer Jayden Hudson Thorpe is on trial in Newcastle District Court.

In opening addresses to the jury on Tuesday, Crown Prosecutor Kristy Mulley said Thorpe went to pick up the girls when they asked him for a lift to school but instead took them on an all-day journey and ignored repeated requests to go to school.

The court heard he also told the girls: “I could get into big trouble for this, I could go to jail”.

The jury heard Thorpe first drove the young girls to a hotel in Aberdeen and tried calling various hotels in the area but they were all full before he stopped at the Aberdeen Bowling Club.

Ms Mulley said Thorpe then gave the teens an MDMA pill split in two and supplied them with water while he watched them take it.

Thorpe has pleaded not guilty to take and detain of two underage girls.

The jury also heard he tried to take the girls inside, but weas stopped by a staff member asking for identification before he went to the bar and came back with tall glasses of a red drink for the girls to consume.

The jury then heard Thorpe drove the pair towards Scone and stopped at a local river and suggested they swim in their undies and encouraged them to “sniff” a white powder he said was cocaine.

Ms Mulley told the court Thorpe suggested they play ‘never have I ever’ which left the girls feeling “extremely uncomfortable”.

Later that afternoon, the jury heard he encouraged them to snort cocaine while parked at Muswellbrook racecourse.

Ms Mulley said the teens, who were eventually dropped off near their school later that day, had made a decision not to tell anyone but only two weeks later, and following a post of Facebook, did they tell siblings who informed their parents and the police got involved.

She said the Crown would rely on evidence he took them to hotels, had sexualised conversations and gave them drugs and alcohol to lower their inhibitions.

Defence barrister Ben Bickford told the jury in his opening address that there was no dispute Thorpe had picked the girls up and drove them to various places and provided them with cocaine that day.

It was, however, disputed that he kidnapped them as the teens were “happy to go with him” and willing to be out of school.

Mr Bickford said it was also disputed he supplied the girls with MDMA.

He said while it was a “confronting” case and admitted his client acted in a “despicable” way, it was not about liking him but rather listening to evidence in relation to the allegations.

The jury also heard Thorpe had contacted the 14-year-old girl on Snapchat earlier that day and asked her if she had ever thought of hooking up with someone older.

Messages read in court said he asked about the girl’s 15-year-old sister and suggested she wake her up to have some fun and also referred to having sex with a “dilf” and taking coke.

The court heard the young girl told him what he was doing was “illegal” and Thorpe asked her to keep their exchange “secret”.

The trial continues.