Sicko Gippsland ‘warlock’ Robert Webb jailed for sexual penetration of a child under 16

A former Gippsland government worker and energy consultant created a “fantasy world” of bogus magic to groom a young girl for vile and degrading sexual acts.

A man who posed as a “warlock” to groom an 11-year-old girl for vile sex acts, telling his victim he could make her “very powerful medicine”, has been jailed.

Robert Webb, 66, was sentenced in the County Court on Friday to a minimum 15 months’ jail after pleading guilty to charges including sexual penetration of a child under 16.

Webb was a travelling “alternative energy” consultant when he met his victim in Victoria in the early 2000s.

The depraved fiend told his victim she was a “witch” and he was a warlock who was into “Wicca”.

Webb, who also pleaded guilty to indecent act with a child under 16, spoke to the child about magic and created a “fantasy world” with her.

The court heard Webb posed as warlock to discuss the “intimate workings” of his victim’s body with her.

Webb concocted a story about a woman who told him to collect the victim’s body fluids, which he later stored in bottles emblazoned with “Elvish” writing.

Webb told the girl the fluids combined with the semen of the first man she had sex with would be a “very powerful medicine”.

The grub also photographed the naked child, telling his victim they were playing a “silly game”.

Robert Webb

Webb sexually penetrated his victim while providing professional services for Methodist Ladies College, the court was told.

The victim was not a student at the school.

Webb was charged after the matter was reported to police in September 2017.

Police obtained the bottles but investigators were advised it was "highly unlikely” DNA samples could be retrieved.

Webb initially rolled the dice and took the matter to trial but later flipped to a guilty plea.

The court heard Webb had a “somewhat unremarkable” childhood growing up in Melbourne’s northern suburbs.

Webb’s father was a police officer and his mum worked as a computer programmer for the TAB.

Webb also received a reference from his sister, a former schoolteacher and principal, who now works for the department of education.

Webb worked in various government departments — including the department of housing — before starting his own alternative energy consultancy business.

The court heard Webb was national service and technical manager for MH Power — a Mitcham-based company which provides “off-grid” power solutions.

The defence submitted Webb designed power systems for individual houses and small communities which was “important and valuable work” done with “passion and dedication”.

However, the defence conceded Webb, from Gippsland, will lose his job.

The court heard Webb had not informed his employer about the charges prior to a plea hearing heard earlier this year.

The prosecution expressed concerns with Webb’s remorse citing the fiend had not provided a “full explanation” for the offending while also “minimising the situation”.

Judge George Georgiou said Webb’s offending was “just too serious”.

Webb was jailed for a maximum two years and five months and made a registered sex offender for life.

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