Picton teacher’s aide Thomas Gottass charged with child prostitution
Southwest Sydney teacher’s aide Thomas Gottass faces grim allegations he was filming prostituting children he had met online before extorting them through social media.
Police & Courts
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A southwest Sydney teacher’s aide facing grim allegations he prostituted children online and extorted them has been refused bail in court.
Thomas Gottass, 18, was charged on Tuesday morning after a months-long investigation by Camden Police Area Command detectives.
Police will allege Gottass paid children he met online to film themselves engaging in sexual acts with him, before using a variety of fraudulent online profiles to extort them.
“On Sunday, detectives executed a search warrant in Picton, where they located and seized electronics relevant to their investigation,” a police statement issued on Tuesday afternoon reads.
“Following further inquiries, about 8.45am today, detectives returned to the address where they arrested an 18-year-old man.”
Gottass was taken to Narellan Police Station and charged with two counts of acting as a prostitution client with a child under 18, producing child abuse material, and possessing child abuse material.
He was refused bail and fronted Moss Vale Local Court on Tuesday afternoon where an application for bail was refused.
Gottass will remain behind bars on remand, with his next court date listed for March 19.
According to court documents, the alleged acts of prostitution involved two separate male complaints – one aged 15 and the other 16 – and are alleged to have occurred on September 30 and November 22, respectively.
“Police will allege in court the man met children online who he paid to film them engaging in sexual acts with him,” the police statement said.
“Police will further allege the man had a number of fraudulent online profiles which he would use to extort young children.”
Investigations continue.
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