Dwayne O’Connell in court after Snapchat texts revealed he wanted sex with 14-year-old

A former sales assistant and Berwick married father used Snapchat to organise a meet up with a Cranbourne girl he believed to be 14 after asking if she wanted to have sex.

Dwayne O’Connell pleaded guilty in the Melbourne County Court.

A married Melbourne dad who asked a 14-year-old girl to have sex before planning a pick-up spot was also caught with pictures of naked children as young as four.

Berwick’s Dwayne O’Connell pleaded guilty in the County Court on Thursday to using a carriage service to procure a person believed to be under 16 and possessing child abuse material.

The 32-year-old married father-of-two asked a girl he believed to be 14 if she wanted to have sex, organised a meet-up spot, and told her not to tell friends or family.

The court heard on July 5 last year, the then 31-year-old O’Connell began chatting online to a girl named Lucy who had ‘2008’ in her username before moving their conversation to Snapchat.

She said she lived in Cranbourne and was on school holidays before he asked for pictures and said it was a “shame” she was so young.

Other messages said he wanted to be “naughty” and have fun before he asked if she wanted to have sex and to just call him “daddy”.

Dwayne O’Connell

When the ‘girl’ said she was a virgin and that her school told her to be careful, the former JB Hi-Fi sales assistant said it was because they “don’t want you to f*** me yet”.

When she asked “aren’t you married?”, he replied “aren’t you 14?”.

The pair discussed where they could meet up the following night and he sent a picture of a map asking if she knew the spot.

The spot was Cranbourne’s Central Parkway playground.

But it was not a girl on the other end of the Snapchat messages, it was Victoria Police.

About 10pm the following night, police executed a search warrant at his Berwick address where they located four images of child abuse material, including one picture depicting a girl believed to be between 4 and 6.

Dwayne O’Connell was supported in court by his mother and legal team.

Defence barrister Daniel Thomas said the offending was on the “lower end” compared to many other child abuse matters.

He said the Snapchat conversation was contained to one evening, there was no real victim, and although the images were sexually explicit they did not depict penetration.

Mr Thomas said his client was “disgusted” with himself, was not a risk to his own children, and that imprisonment would negatively impact his “good” chance of rehabilitation.

He also said his inability to stay connected with his children had caused him the most distress.

O’Connell was fired from his job after he was charged and his communication with his children has since reduced from fortnightly calls to almost nothing.

During sentencing, Judge John Carmody said he came close to going to jail.

The support of his family along with his engagement with support services led the Judge to believe he had a good prospect of rehabilitation.

Judge Carmody said he had no criminal record and was otherwise a man of good conduct and character.

O’Connell was sentenced to six months imprisonment with immediate release and placed on a two-year good behaviour order.

He will be supervised and have treatment requirements as well as being placed on the sex offender register for 15 years.