YouTube comedian Marcus Dibble avoids jail after pleading guilty to grooming child for sexual conduct
YouTube comedian Marcus Dibble exposed as a child sex fiend finally faced the music after claiming he was too scared to attend court.
Inner South
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A disgraced YouTube comedian who groomed a 13-year-old girl for sex has avoided a jail term.
Marcus Dibble, 27, was sentenced in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Monday to an 18-month community correction order after pleading guilty to charges including grooming a child under 16 for to engage in sexual conduct.
Dibble violated his 13-year-old victim after she contacted him via his Instagram account for nude model photography business dibbleprime.
Dibble had posted a “questionnaire” to attract new models to his business, according to a summary of offending submitted to the court.
The girl told Dibble she was “13 turning 14” but the fiend said that was “fine”.
Dibble, who also pleaded guilty to produce, possess and distribute child abuse material, told his victim he wanted to “meet up” to photograph her.
Dibble communicated with the victim via Snapchat, Instagram, email and phone between April 2019 and July last year.
Dibble “encouraged” his victim to take “sexually suggestive” photos of herself during their “sexualised” communication.
Dibble also encouraged his victim to talk about her “sexual experiences, desires and sexual fantasies”.
The creep told his victim what he would like to do her sexually and offered to take photographs of the girl “free of charge”.
Dibble told the victim he was “thinking of her” while “playing with himself” during a sordid phone conversation.
“If I kissed you, rubbed your back and neck, choke you from the back, have sex with you in different ways, would you like that,” Dibble said during another conversation.
Dibble booked an Airbnb where he arranged to meet the victim in July last year.
Dibble messaged the victim after she never showed up and asked if she would meet him when she turned 16.
The victim told her mother about Dibble’s Airbnb plan so she reported him to police.
Investigators raided Dibble’s Bentleigh East property on July 29 last year.
Police seized several devices and located child abuse material depicting the victim which had been altered by Dibble.
Dibble, a weights enthusiast, was also nabbed with various anabolic steroids.
The court was told Dibble grew up in Albany before earning fame and fortune as an ultra-popular YouTube comedian and “social media personality”.
Moya O’Brien, for Dibble, said her client made a lot of money from his 500,000 YouTube subscribers but ceased his “business” after he was arrested.
Dibble, a “call out” and prank video comedian, lost earnings including advert royalties and merchandise income after he halted his YouTube account and withdrew from social media, the court heard.
The court was told “salacious rumours” regarding Dibble’s disappearance swirled on the internet.
Dibble worked as a “consultant” for gamer energy drink Juicd but was “let go” after his offending was exposed by the Herald Sun in May this year.
Dibble’s original sentence was adjourned after Ms O’Brien said her client received death threats after the original and exclusive Herald Sun article.
Ms O’Brien said her client had “fears for his public safety” and “expressed concerns” about attending court in person.
Ms O’Brien submitted some death threats received by Dibble which she said amounted to “extra-curial punishment”.
Magistrate Ross Maxted said Dibble’s once booming business empire was “closed and defunct”.
Mr Maxted took into account Dibble’s loss of income and career while accepting he was a “low risk” of reoffending.
Dibble was convicted and made a registered sex offender for 15 years.