Kyle Knopp: Nowra man pleads guilty to grooming nine-year-old girl

A South Coast man who befriended a nine-year-old girl online has been told he left his victim feeling “gross” and unable to trust people after he solicited revealing images.

A Nowra man who befriended a nine-year-old girl online has been told he left his victim feeling “gross” and unable to trust people after soliciting revealing images and asking if they could be “girlfriend and boyfriend”.

Kyle Knopp, 30, pleaded guilty at the Nowra District Court on Thursday to using a carriage service to solicit child abuse material after beginning a Facebook friendship with the girl in November 2020.

The pair exchanged messages over the next three months on five separate occasions, with conversations first centring around subjects including an injury to Knopp’s legs and bullying the victim faced at school, before becoming more sexually explicit.

“The explicit nature of the communications gradually increased over time,” Judge Christopher O’Brien said on Thursday.

“While Knopp commenced by asking the victim for ‘cuddles’ in their communications on November 29, 2020, the content of the communications changed and became more manipulative and overtly sexual.”

On multiple occasions, Knopp asked the victim to send pictures of themselves to him, according to agreed police facts read out by Judge O’Brien, including one instance on November 30 when he asked for “naughty pics”.

In the days following their first messages, Knopp told the victim he loved them and called them “sexy”, before promising to visit them.

Supplied Editorial Nowra Police Station. Picture: Google

“In a message the victim said: ‘Then when are you going to meet me?’,” according to the police facts.

“Knopp replied: ‘I can pick you up if you want and we can go for a drive’.”

By the time of the final communication on March 14, Knopp’s messages had become more overtly explicit.

“Knopp told the victim ‘I want to have sex haha’,” Judge O’Brien said.

“That was not the first time he has proposed a sexual encounter to the victim, having done so in February, also.”

Knopp was arrested on April 22 after the victim’s father discovered the messages on their phone.

Judge O’Brien told the court Knopp had provided officers with the PIN code to his phone, and had been “mildly cooperative”.

In an impact statement, the victim confessed to feeling “gross” and “really weird” during the months-long ordeal.

“The victim said they felt sad, angry, and taken advantage of,” Judge O’Brien said.

“The statement indicates the victim finds it hard to trust people.

“The offending has affected their relationships and friendships.”

On multiple occasions, Knopp refused calls and ignored texts from the victim who accused him of “blocking” them.

Nonetheless, Judge O’Brien told Knopp his offending fell on the “lower end”, and in sentencing recognised “special circumstances”.

Knopp, who was diagnosed with ADHD as a child, was of a below average intelligence, according to Judge O’Brien’s findings, and had come from an economically disadvantaged background. Judge O’Brien further accepted Knopp’s “genuine remorse” owing to a “childlike” honesty.

Judge O’Brien sentenced Knopp to three and a half years in jail, beginning February 2022, with a non-parole period of 20 months.