Joshua McDonald: Yaapeet farmer grooms young girls on Snapchat

A cattle farmer from Victoria’s west has pleaded guilty to more than 20 sex charges after preying on multiple underage girls. He threatened one girl she would find out “what pain is” if she didn’t follow his orders.

Joshua McDonald harassed girls via Snapchat.

A cattle farmer from Victoria’s west, who groomed multiple underage girls online, threatened to physically harm a 14-year-old girl if she didn’t send him explicit photos.

Joshua McDonald, 21, fronted County Court on Friday, November 20, pleading guilty to 22 charges including using a carriage service to procure an underage person and soliciting child abuse material.

The Yaapeet man was 20 when he committed the crimes against a number of girls aged under 16, with one claiming to be as young as 12, from September 2019 to January 2020.

McDonald repeatedly called and texted a 14-year-old girl, asking her to have sex with him and send him explicit photos.

He called her a “sl*t” for having already had sex, telling her she only wasn’t one if she had sex with him.

McDonald further told the girl he would expose her as a “hoe” if she didn’t send him nude photos, threatening her harm when she refused.

“You do have to, and don’t forget I know where you are,” McDonald told her.

“Keep going like this and you’ll find out what pain is.”

He also groomed a series of girls via Snapchat, claiming he was 15, which he later told police he did to make the girls feel more comfortable talking to him.

McDonald sent some of the girls photos of his penis and asked them to send his nude photos and videos of them performing sex acts.

He asked a 13-year-old Queensland girl to video herself moaning and performing sex acts with objects and discussed meeting her to have sex.

McDonald offered to pay for her flights to Victoria and said he would fly to Queensland.

He became aggressive and abusive to several girls, telling a girl who claimed she was only 12 that he wouldn’t stop messaging her until she sent him explicit photos.

The court heard he had an intellectual disability and was extremely immature for his age.

A psychologist submitted he needed ongoing mental health treatment and would be at a greater risk of being bullied in prison than the average person.

It was heard McDonald had been bullied at school for being a virgin.

Judge George Georgiou will sentence McDonald at a later date.

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