Christopher Mantel sent underage girl money for nudes because he was ‘lonely’

A man who preyed on underage girls on social media was “lonely” after his marriage broke down. Now he’s set to be promoted.

Mantel used Messenger to communicate with his victims.

A man is set to be promoted at his job at a food distribution company despite being caught paying an underage girl for nude images.

Christopher Mantel, 39, appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Thursday where he pleaded guilty to two charges of engaging a person under 18 in the production of child porn and one charge of possessing child abuse material.

In 2021, Mantel found two underage girls on Facebook and began contacting them through the Messenger app.

The court heard he believed the girls were over 18 however, when they told him they weren’t he continued to ask for naked pictures.

One of the victims never sent Mantel any images but he continued to ask for them, offering to pay.

The victim reported the behaviour to police which led to the discovery of a phone containing photos and video of nude women during a search warrant.

On the phone were seven images and a video of another underage girl, showing her face and breasts.

The court heard Mantel engaged with this victim via Messenger for seven months, sending her money for pictures.

When interviewed about the offending Mantel said he was “being stupid” and “selfish” because he was “feeling lonely”, the prosecution told the court.

The lawyer said the offending was “persistent and predatory”.

Mantel, who has no criminal history, is an employee at a Melbourne based food distribution company and his defence lawyer said his workplace had provided a character reference to the court and had agreed to promote Mantel from a casual worker when the court proceedings were concluded.

The defence also submitted Mantel was experiencing “personal hardship” at the time of the offending, after his marriage of 10 years broke down.

The magistrate ordered Mantel be assessed for a Community Corrections Order.