Forest Hill man pleads guilty to grooming young girl

A Forest Hill father called himself “daddy” and asked a young Gippsland girl if she wanted him to get her pregnant.

Bradley Lansell sent sexual messages to a young girl on Facebook. Picture: Generic

A Forest Hill father sent vile sexual messages to a young girl and asked her if she wanted him to get her pregnant, a court has heard.

Bradley Lansell, 25, pleaded guilty at Latrobe Valley Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday to one charge of encouraging a child under the age of 16 to engage in, or be involved in, sexual activity.

The court heard Lansell randomly added a 15-year-old girl from Gippsland on Facebook in December 2019.

The pair exchanged their ages and Lansell called the girl pet names like “beautiful” and “angel”.

Between December 2019 and July 2020, Lansell referred to himself as “daddy” and asked if she wanted him to get her pregnant.

He also asked if she wanted to see his genitalia on Snapchat.

Lansell sent the girl other sexual messages including “do you want me to fill you up every day and night?”, “is daddy turning you on?” and “I’ll make you moan and scream for more”.

The pair, who agreed they were in a relationship, had conversations about meeting up in person.

The girl wanted to stay at Lansell’s house but the man said she couldn’t because of their age difference.

Lansell’s lawyer Amara Hughes said the father-of-one’s conduct was inappropriate but there was a lack of “aggravated features” involved.

Ms Hughes said Lansell lacked an understanding of the gravity of the offending.

“It was clear that he did know there was something wrong in terms of their age gap and that’s the reason why he agreed to not meet her in person,” she said.

“But it can be said that he didn’t understand the seriousness and impact on the victim.”

Ms Hughes said Lansell’s son had health issues and his mum had multiple sclerosis.

Magistrate Ann Collins said the young girl was “vulnerable to the predatory nature of men”.

“It’s clear in my mind that you were aware that there was something wrong about this process and it’s clearly serious offending,” she said.

Lansell was convicted and sentenced to an 18 month community corrections order.

He was placed on the sex offender register for eight years.

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