Pakenham carpenter dad Benjamin ‘Ben’ McGlashan pleads guilty to child sex abuse material charges
A Melbourne dad sent vile messages to various children before a plan to meet a teen target at Berwick McDonald’s was hatched.
South East
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A depraved Melbourne fiend whose vile child sex offending included asking a 12-year-old girl to “spread those legs” has avoided a stint behind bars.
Benjamin ‘Ben’ McGlashan, 32, was sentenced in the County Court on Tuesday to a three-year community correction order after pleading guilty to multiple child abuse material charges.
McGlashan, who pleaded guilty to solicit child abuse material and transmit indecent communication, sent vile messages to several underage girls between October 2022 and August last year.
The court heard the Pakenham man used “highly sexualised and indecent” language while he communicated with the unknown victims via Snapchat.
McGlashan, under the online handle ‘melbchippie91’, sent messages which contained “depraved descriptions” of the sexual acts he “wished” to do with the child victims.
The dad also messaged the children about the lewd acts he wanted them to perform on him.
McGlashan communicated with a 14-year-old girl who he asked if she was a virgin, if she was single and if she could “take eight inches”.
McGlashan asked another victim, a 15-year-old girl, whether she could come and “gag on it”.
Another 15-year-old victim warned McGlashan that what he was asking for “would be rape”.
McGlashan asked that victim if he could see her, if she could “deep-throat” and asked her if she ever wore a “G-string”.
The former carpenter then moved onto a 12-year-old girl.
“I’m 12 go away,” the victim said.
But McGlashan wasn’t deterred, asking the victim to “spread those legs”.
McGlashan also commenced his predatory depravity on new online pedophile hunting ground ChatIW in November last year.
The fiend began communication with ‘Emily’ who was actually an undercover cop working to unmask digital rock spiders like McGlashan.
McGlashan’s “highly sexualised and indecent” communication with Emily occurred via Snapchat and ChatIW between November 2022 and August last year.
McGlashan made “continued requests” for Emily to have sex and perform “fellatio” on him.
The grub, who believed Emily was 14, also asked for “upskirt” photos while she wore her school uniform.
He sent Emily an image of an erect penis, demanded Emily send other sexualised images and asked if she would share his “cock” with a friend.
McGlashan also solicited child abuse material from another undercover cop who posed as a 14-year-old girl named ‘Charlotte’.
He also demanded Charlotte send upskirt school uniform images and other “photographs of the child engaging in a sexual pose” while the pair communicated via Snapchat in February last year.
McGlashan and Emily arranged to meet at Berwick McDonald’s on August 9 last year.
Covert cops arrived at the location about 3.30pm ready to pounce on McGlashan but the fiend failed to show.
McGlashan sent Emily a message a couple of hours later which stated she was “too young” and he would “f--k her when she was older lol”.
Joint Anti Child Exploitation Taskforce detectives raided McGlashan’s Pakenham home which he shared with his wife and child barely an hour later.
Investigators seized McGlashan’s iPhone which contained Snapchat login details for melbchippie91.
McGlashan told police he used Snapchat “probably most work days” for “stupid things”.
The grub also admitted a lot of the communication was “vulgar” and “quite disgusting”.
McGlashan, who admitted the penis image he transmitted was his, told police he got a “little bit of sexual arousal and excitement” while he chatted with Emily.
The court heard McGlashan, who now works as a dairy farmhand, had issues with drinking, gambling and drugs at the time of the offending.
McGlashan has also “suffered public humiliation” and lost his carpentry business after he was charged with this offending, the court was told.
Judge Michael McInerney spared McGlashan jail but warned the fiend he’d be in trouble if he breached the law while serving his CCO.
“The mercy I give you today will not be offered again …,” Judge McInerney said.
“You come back … you have to bring your toothbrush.”
McGlashan was convicted and made a registered sex offender for life.
