Robert Smythe: Born-again Christian sentenced over sex crimes

A Gippsland man who preyed on a seven-year-old girl by giving her presents and pocket money before showing her what “mummies and daddies do”, has been sentenced in court.  

A born-again Christian who preyed on a seven-year-old girl by giving her presents and pocket money before showing her what “mummies and daddies do”, has been jailed for five months.

Robert Smythe, 66, was sentenced in the County Court to charges involving indecent assault on a child under 16 and gross indecency with a child under 16.

Judge Pardeep Tiwana sentenced Smythe to two years and six months in prison however he will only serve five months with the rest suspended for three years.   

The court heard Smythe was in his 30s at the time when he abused a little girl in Gippsland and told her “if she loved him, she would want him to feel good”.

On one occasion he bought her a puppy and said it was a “big deal” before violating her.

The abuse continued for five years.

A victim impact statement read in court by the victim revealed at 13 she told her parents what had happened, but didn’t report it to police.

When she insisted on reporting the crime to police years later, her mother told her Smythe was dead.

“I felt defeated because I could never get the chance to hold the man accountable for what he had done,” she said.

Seven years later she discovered Smythe was alive then made an official statement to police in 2019.

Smythe was arrested before telling police in an interview the allegations were “rubbish” and he was the victim.

The court heard as a child his victim struggled making friends and thought of Smythe as her “only friend”.

“He dimmed the bad things in my life by giving me money, gifts and positive attention.”

She also said she felt “free” when her abuser wasn’t around but would start to panic and feel “alone”.

The victim developed severe anxiety and began cutting herself as a teen.

She was also diagnosed with chronic depression and borderline personality disorder as a result of a “build up of stress”.

She said in her statement that Smythe had robbed her of her future, her confidence, her trust and her life. 

"I was never meant to be this person," the statement read.

When she gave birth to a girl she feared she wouldn’t be able to protect her daughter.

Judge Tiwana said Smythe’s “deplorable” behaviour was inherently serious.

“He tried to legitimise or normalise it, by telling his victim it was perfectly okay to do this, it’s what you do if you love someone — but she was a seven-year-old,” he said.

Judge Tiwana said that Smythe "knew what he was doing was wrong" but did it anyway and in turn "stole [his] victims innocence".

The court heard Smythe was the sole carer of his father before he died in 2003 and worked as an orderly at a hospital before he was arrested.

Smythe’s lawyer told the court after the death of his father he followed in the footsteps of his siblings and was baptised to become a born-again Christian.

Since then he has “positively transformed” his life and ceased drinking.

The court heard Smythe is remorseful for his behaviour and is “deeply ashamed”.

Judge Tiwana said he was delivering a suspended sentence due to Smythe's age and the impact that imprisonment would have on his physical and mental health.