Clarence Valley man breaches child protection prohibition order

A northern NSW man convicted of heinous child sex crimes mouthed “f**k” when police spotted him near a popular beach that he wasn’t allowed to visit alone.

Grafton Local Court.

A Clarence Valley man who spent years behind bars for heinous child sex crimes, has again found himself in custody after showing “blatant disregard” for orders put in place to protect children, a court heard.

The man, who cannot legally be identified, did not appear via videolink at Grafton Local Court on Monday when his defence lawyer Greg Coombes entered a plea of guilty on his client’s behalf to contravening a prohibition order.

It is not the first time the accused has found himself back behind bars, with police facts stating he has displayed “a blatant disregard for all court ordered restrictions”.

The man was convicted of several offences some years back, including sexual intercourse with a child under 10, two counts of indecently assaulting a person under 16 and using a child aged under 14 to make child abuse material, according to documents tendered to court.

For these crimes, he was sentenced to six years and three months in jail, and released on parole in March 2021.

The child sex offender showed “blatant disregard” for the orders, the court was told.

Upon his release, he was placed on the NSW Child Protection Register for a period of 15 years, a court heard.

But he was soon caught breaching the conditions of the register.

“On January 30 2022, (he) was arrested and charged after recording videos of multiple young females and teenage girls at the beach,” court documents state.

This saw a further Child Protection Prohibition Order (CPPO) taken out against him in June 2022.

He then breached court orders in matters relating to his internet usage, a court heard.

In December, he pleaded guilty to three counts of failing to comply with his reporting obligations and breaching the CPPO.

He was convicted and placed on an eight-month intensive correction order (ICO).

Less than two months later, the man would again breach his CPPO, which stipulated he must not go within 50m of a beach unless in the company of a family member.

The court heard on March 24 police received information the Clarence man would be visiting Brooms Head, though he told officers he would be with a family member.

Brooms Head, Main Beach.

But police found the man alone at Brooms Head on March 28.

“Police heard a vehicle driving slowly behind them, police looked back and sighted (him) … driving on Ocean Rd, which is a one-way street adjacent to the beach,” police facts state.

“(He) slowly drove past police who looked into the vehicle which was about 30cm away and observed no other persons in the vehicle.

“(He) looked directly at police before saying “F--k” and driving off at speed.

“The location where (he) was sighted was less than 30 metres from the beach, at the time there was a large number of people including children in the area.”

The court heard police arrested the man soon after his trip to Brooms Head and he was taken into custody on April 5.

He did not apply for bail in court.

The man is due to face the court again on May 26 for sentencing.

Originally published as Clarence Valley man breaches child protection prohibition order