Frankston sex creep: Dad Scott Powell chatted with underage teen via Snapchat, asked for nude pics
A Frankston father who asked an underage girl to send him revealing photos via social media — and even let her stay at his house where he plied her with alcohol — has escaped jail.
South East
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A Frankston sex creep dad who used Snapchat to have sexually explicit conversations with an underage teenage girl while asking for nude pics has escaped prison time.
Scott Powell pleaded guilty in the Victorian County Court to one charge of using a carriage service to transmit indecent communication to a person who was aged under 16.
Powell began chatting to his 15-year-old victim via anonymous social media app Whisper on April 15, 2017.
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He initially thought the girl was “17 or 18” after viewing photos but continued communicating via Snapchat and Kik even after finding out she was only 15.
The 32-year-old father also asked the girl to send him revealing photos of her on more than one occasion but she refused.
The girl contacted Powell on April 21, 2017 to ask for a place to stay as she had just left home.
Powell told the girl she could stay at his Frankston home but only after he finished visiting his children.
He picked her up from Frankston station and the pair began drinking alcohol not long after arriving at Powell’s home.
The teen victim said she could barely stand after the drinking session but recalled Powell kissing and cuddling her.
Powell also exposed himself to the inebriated teen.
He attempted to contact the girl in the days following the incident but never got a reply.
The girl reported the incident to Health and Human Services workers who referred the matter to police.
Powell was eventually arrested and charged on May 22, 2017.
In her victim impact statement, the young teenager said Powell’s offending caused her lower self-esteem and suicidal thoughts and attempts which required enhanced supervision.
In sentencing last month, Judge Frank Gucciardo said Powell’s acts may have been at the lower end of the spectrum of sexual contact but occured “in an environment of exploitation, opportunistic sexual gratification and egregious breach of trust”.
“It was said that at some point, you felt concerned for her welfare,” he said.
“That may have been the case at some point but this quickly became a perversion of concern into an indecent dealing with a vulnerable victim.”
Powell was sentenced to two 12-month community corrections orders to be served concurrently.
Judge Gucciardo said Powell had good prospects of rehabilitation.
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