John Blair Burns used Snapchat to groom young girl before arranging to meet, have sex without consent
Lies, deception and impersonating a police officer. The sordid details of what one man went to, to groom his young victims before sexually assaulting them.
Newcastle
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Just four weeks after a sexual predator was granted bail in the Supreme Court — charged with having sex with a teenage girl — he was arrested for sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl at a home in Lake Macquarie.
John Blair Burns, 30, used social media platform Snapchat to engage with the 13-year-old for 12 months before arranging to meet her, ply her with alcohol and have sex without her consent, a court has heard.
On Friday, the Newcastle District Court heard about the bizarre lengths Burns went to gain relationships with his victims including impersonating other people, including a police officer, and infiltrating and manipulating family members.
It was all because he “just wanted to be loved and accepted”, the court heard.
Burns was first arrested in July 2018 and was charged with having sex with a teenage girl; procuring child abuse material; stalk and intimidation; intentionally distributing intimate images without consent; travelling to meet a child groomed for sexual activity and impersonating a police officer.
He was remanded in custody twice in Griffith Local Court on those charges, until October 2018 when Supreme Court Justice Peter Hidden granted him strict conditional bail, despite objections from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
Police wanted to appeal that decision but they were turned down by prosecutors.
In November, Burns was pulled over by Lake Macquarie Police in Cardiff with two teenagers in his car, a 13-year-old girl and a 16-year-old boy.
He was then further charged with aggravated sexual assault of a minor, procuring a child younger than 14 for unlawful sexual activity, and breaching his bail conditions.
He pleaded guilty today to three counts of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception after he accessed the bank accounts of two people and stole more than $4000.
At sentencing today, Burns’ solicitor Benjamin Bickford said evidence supported that his client suffered from significant mental disorders which included Autism Spectrum Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder.
He said they were present at the time of the offences and his behaviour was consistent of a person operating under those disorders.
“His moral culpability is lessened,” Mr Bickford said.
“Also in my submissions he did plead guilty early, he has taken responsibility and the remorse he has demonstrated is genuine.”
But the Crown argued Burns only found remorse due to the predicament he was in and stated there was no clear evidence of a diagnosis of his suggested mental health disorders.
Mr Coates told the court, reports stated Burns knew what he was doing was wrong but he went ahead with it anyway.
Judge Peter Whitford adjourned the decision until Monday to deliberate further.