Brandon Lethborg: Gippsland sex offender pleads guilty to sexual assault

A Gippsland registered sex offender sexually assaulted a teen in a car park after grooming her on social media for months.

A Traralgon man sexually assaulted a teen in a car park. Picture: iStock

A registered Gippsland sex offender sexually assaulted a teen in a car park after he groomed her on social media for months.

Brandon Lethborg, 27, pleaded guilty at Latrobe Valley Magistrates’ Court on November 5 to charges including stalking, grooming a child under 16 for sexual offence and sexual assault by touching a child.

The court heard Lethborg met the girl in April this year after he was registered as a sex offender for life in 2015.

The Traralgon man exchanged his details with the 15-year-old daughter and the pair messaged on Snapchat and text.

Lethborg asked the girl about her personal life including her age, boyfriend and whether she was a virgin.

He told her he liked her and suggested they cuddle.

In May, Lethborg and the girl went on a walk and he placed his arm around her.

The court heard, he also pulled her into a car park near a bin and touched her bum and attempted to kiss her neck.

The girl pushed him away.

The girl’s mum became suspicious of Lethborg when she found messages between the pair so she reported him to police.

The court also heard that Lethborg stalked his ex-girlfriend in 2019.

When the woman didn’t reply to him, he made threats of self-harm which caused the victim significant distress.

In a police interview, Lethborg said he “wasn’t thinking straight” because of his mental health.

Lethborg’s lawyer John Sullivan said the man had ADHD and an intellectual disability which he suffered from birth.

During the hearing, Lethborg cried and shook his head while he was in custody.

He will return to court on December 21.

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