Jeremy Gay: Golden Square sex offender struck up relationship with 17-year-old girl

A Golden Square man with a history of child sex abuse used social media to contact a 17-year-old girl before striking up a romantic relationship with her.

A 24-year-old convicted child sex offender started dating a 17-year-old girl after striking up a relationship over social media.

Bendigo Magistrates Court heard Jeremy Gay contacted the teenager online and developed a romantic relationship, despite a court order limiting his contact with children.

The court heard Gay was found guilty of child sex offences in 2019, with multiple underage female victims.

The Golden Square resident was registered as a sex offender and was ordered to report all contacts with children to police.

Eighteen months after his sex crimes conviction, Gay was caught in contact with a new victim.

Police said on February 22 officers noticed a teenage girl waiting alone in a park.

When the teenager was asked why she was there she told officers she was waiting for her boyfriend.

When Gay arrived he told officers he and the 17-year-old were in a relationship.

The then 24-year-old was arrested and taken to Bendigo Police Station.

Police searched his phone and found Gay had changed his name to ‘Jeremy Anderson’ on Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook to contact children.

He had done so without informing police.

Officers used Gay’s phone to call one of the numbers listed in his contacts and a 17-year-old girl answered.

Police said the convicted sex offender had developed the romantic relationship with the teenager over social media.

His legal representative Jarred Hofman said this was the first time Gay had breached his court conditions, saying until 18 months ago his client had a clean criminal history.

Mr Hofman said Gay had an intellectual disability, with an IQ of 61-74, and had a troubled childhood marred by neglect and family violence.

He said his unemployed client was living in a residential facility with other men with intellectual disabilities at the time of the incident.

“He mainly spends his days playing video games … and watching lawn bowls,” Mr Hofman said.

He said Gay was cooperative and showed remorse for not contacting police after changing his social media usernames.

Magistrate Patrick Southey said there was nothing “clearly sinister” about the changes to his social media profiles, but noted Gay had breached his community corrections order in five different ways.

“It’s troubling and serious,” Mr Southey said.

When Mr Hofman said Gay’s relationship with the 17-year-old was platonic, Mr Southey responded: “I would infer they were having sex”.

But Mr Southey said since the teenager was above the age of consent and Gay was not in a position of care, the romantic relationship itself was not illegal.

On Tuesday Gay pled guilty to the charges and was sentenced to one day in prison and a $1000 fine.