Mornington Peninsula pedophile who groomed girls wins gag order

A Mornington Peninsula man who sent young girls money and Uber Eats vouchers in exchange for naked images has won a gag order to protect his safety.

A Mornington Peninsula man has used Snapchat to groom young girls. File image.

A pedophile who sent teenage girls money and Uber Eats vouchers in exchange for naked images and asked some to meet for sex has won a gag order to protect his safety.

The 36-year-old Mornington Peninsula man used Snapchat to contact and groom girls aged as young as 11 since 2020, sometimes posing under a fake name or telling his victims he was himself a teenager.

His sick sexual perversions were laid bare in the Frankston Magistrates’ Court on Monday where he admitted to multiple counts of grooming children for sexual conduct and producing and possessing child abuse material.

His lawyer convinced Magistrate Michael King to grant a temporary suppression order preventing the publication of his name for safety reasons.

The child predator was charged over sexual offending involving five girls aged 13 – 16 who he targeted over Snapchat and collectively sent thousands of dollars in cash and Ubereats vouchers in exchange for images of their naked bodies or as hush money.

The man sent teenage girls money and Uber Eats vouchers in exchange for naked images.

His first known victim was aged 11 when he contacted her in 2020 asking if she had a boyfriend and to send nude images.

She blocked him but he found her again several years later in September 2023 when she was 13 and sent her videos of himself masturbating and a barrage of sexually explicit messages asking her to be “daddy’s little sl*t” and to meet him for rough sex.

“What are you doing Friday night? I won’t kidnap you baby. I’ll f*ck you wherever. Are you pretty tiny because I can probably throw you around in my car,” he wrote.

He then added a 15-year-old girl on Snapchat, asking if she needed a “sugar daddy” and to meet him at a park for oral sex, the court heard.

He sent her images of his erect penis, made three cash deposits into her bank account and sent seven or eight Ubereats vouchers.

His next victim was 14 years old when he began grooming her.

The child sent up to 20 intimate images of herself in exchange for cash and Ubereats vouchers, the court heard.

The predator also sent two $200 transfers as hush money following threats to turn him into police.

The sex offender will be assessed for a community corrections order.

His final two victims were both aged 16 when they were sexually exploited for cash.

The court heard the pedophile asked one of the girls to meet up for sex and lied to the other by saying he was only 17.

“You know how I follow you on Insta(gram)? Well I want to be a sugar daddy to a couple of your friends on there. I know you haven’t gone to the cops which surprised me a bit... I had to pay someone a lot of money so they didn’t (tell) the cops,” he wrote to one of his victims.

The pedophile’s lawyer said he should be spared jail based on his intellectual disability, mental health impairments and commitment to treatment.

The court heard he was taking “libido reducing medication” to curb his maladaptive sexual urges.

“There is everything to be gained by letting this man continue his treatment in the community and real detriment to him and the community should he be incarcerated,” the lawyer said.

The police prosecutor urged he be jailed for his crimes, saying he demonstrated a high level of culpability and his victims’ trauma will likely grow as they reach adulthood.

“He systematically targeted them and used financial gain to exploit the victims and was actively procuring child abuse material rather than downloading it online,” the prosecutor said.

“An immediate term of imprisonment is appropriate.”

The mother of the pedophile sat with him in court as his crimes were read aloud.

Magistrate King said “the most disturbing aspect is that an adult would be online interacting in this sort of way with you girls… exposing them to predatory behaviour”.

The sex offender will be assessed for a community corrections order ahead of sentencing next year.

His bail was extended on the condition he remain off social media, adhere to strict internet use rules and not contact witnesses for the prosecution.