Dale Whiteman: Junior referee jailed for grooming and sexually assaulting 22 teens

A former rugby league referee with “deviant sexual interests” will spend more than decade in prison after grooming and assaulting 22 young victims over a 15-year period.

A junior rugby league referee with “deviant sexual interests” toward young girls has been jailed for 16 years, after grooming and having underage sex with multiple teen girls over a 15-year period.

Woonona man Dale Whiteman, 32, was jailed for 16 years with a non-parole period of 11 years by Judge Andrew Haesler on Friday, after 22 women came forward and reported his crimes against them.

“His actions were exploitative and invasive of a child’s privacy,” Judge Haesler said.

“He exposed children to his sexual conduct and accustomed them to sexual activity.”

Dale Whiteman was jailed for at least 11 years. Picture: Jonathan Ng

The junior rugby league referee used his connections with the sport to meet his 22 victims across the Illawarra and Sutherland Shire.

He contacted the girls, aged between 13 and 16, via social media platforms and text messages, with his offending dating back to 2006.

Whiteman was first arrested in December 2019 and released on bail. He was slapped with additional charges related to a USB police uncovered at his home.

The storage device contained folders under the names of more than 70 different girls, each folder containing screenshots of texts and photos of them either naked or in their underwear.

Girls who spoke to police told of Whiteman’s “nagging and badgering” for nude photos of themselves.

On occasion, court documents state Whiteman told a girl over text message that he had a self-described “fetish” for G-strings, before asking her to send him photos of herself.

On another occasion he contacted a young girl who had blocked him, under the guise of being a “model” named Hayley, saying she was Whiteman’s girlfriend.

Acting as Hayley, he told the girl he would send her clothes, before sending her several G-strings and demanding photos of her in them. Those photos were later found on Whiteman’s USB.

He was rearrested and refused bail in March 2020, after another teen came forward to police with allegations of sexual abuse.

Judge Haesler said he found Dale Whiteman’s evidence “self-serving and unconvincing”. Picture: Facebook.

One victim, who was still in school when she was assaulted by Whiteman, earlier told the court she and the former referee were friends, and said she felt violated and as though she was at fault for what happened.

“I felt used because he knew everything and still did everything he did,” she said.

The girl said she felt “mentally scarred and angry” because she considered Whiteman a friend.

“I couldn’t work out how someone that close to you could hurt you like that.”

Whiteman told the court he had been “deeply regretful” for his actions and the harm it caused the victims.

However, in sentencing the 32-year-old, Judge Haesler said his evidence was “unconvincing”.

“It’s clear his offending was age specific, planned and calculated,” he said.

“His evidence was insincere and self-serving.”

Judge Haesler said, for several years Whiteman acted in a “persistent and predatory manner for his own sexual gratification and deviant interests,” and that his crimes had caused his victims to feel “anxiety, shame and negative self image”.

“He had a demonstrated pattern where he would ingratiate himself with a group or family and take advantage of these girls,” Judge Haesler said.

Whiteman was sentenced on 15 charges, including having sexual intercourse with a person aged 14 to 16, possessing child abuse material, aggravated indecent assault and using a carriage service to groom a child under 16 years for sex.

With time served he will be eligible for release to parole in 2031.