William Russell, former Young South Australian of the Year finalist and teen online safety advocate, admits child sex charges
He was a Young South Australian of the Year finalist hailed for his work protecting teenagers from sexual predators. Today he is disgraced and facing jail after admitting serious child sex offences.
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A former young South Australian of the Year finalist who advocated for teenage protection online is facing jail after admitting several child sex charges.
William Russell, 24, of Findon, was universally lauded for establishing an online platform to help teens avoid sexual predators on the internet.
But in the District Court on Tuesday, the western suburbs entrepreneur admitted to being one of those predators.
On the day he was due to face trial, he instead pleaded guilty to grooming an underage boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, in July 2017.
Russell, a finalist in the 2016 SA Young Australian of the Year Award for his youth advocacy work, had previously admitted two aggravated counts of possessing child exploitation material in August 2017.
In an interview with the Sunday Mail in 2017 — just five days before he obtained the child sex material — he warned parents about the perils of the internet and revealed how he had corresponded with the northern suburbs boy, 15, for sex.
“We are concerned minors are being targeted and groomed by online predators on (social media) sites,” he said. It was this interview that attracted police interest.
Sex-crimes detectives launched an investigation amid suspicions of his activities.
Nearly a week later, they accessed his laptop, after which they made the grim discovery. Prosecutors said the investigating officer, from the Special Crimes Investigation Branch, had “gone through … voluminous e-crime records”.
In his 2017 interview, Russell said South Australian children as young as 13 were being lured to websites with names that mimicked popular social media sites to display nude photos and meet for sex.
He said many of the female profiles were fake so the sites were mainly looking to trap young boys.
Russell said the sites “encouraged users to ‘sext’, send nude photos of themselves or others, and to meet up for sexual encounters”.
“This could be a very dangerous situation for these kids as they have no idea who might be there to meet up with them,” he said.
“The names of these sites look so innocent and some children could easily find themselves on there and within minutes be feeling intimidated to do something they will regret.”
He had been due to stand trial before a judge alone on Monday but his lawyers had asked for extra time to negotiate a plea bargain.
Yesterday, he pleaded guilty to communicating with the intention of making a child amenable to sexual activity at Findon in July 2017.
He had also admitted to procuring a child for sexual activity between June 30 and July 5, 2017.
Russell, a finalist in the 2016 SA Young Australian of the Year Award for his youth advocacy work and who has been lauded with other community gongs, had also admitted to two aggravated counts of possessing child exploitation material in August 2017.
He had previously pleaded guilty to a further two counts of possessing child exploitation material.
Russell, a former Urrbrae Agricultural High School student, created Teen Support Network to combat bullying.
Court documents state that on July 14, 2017, at Findon or other places, he made a “communication for a prurient purpose with the intention of making (his victim), a child under the age of 17 years, amendable to sexual activity”.
The boy, known only by a pseudonym, cannot be identified because he is the victim of a sexual offence. Other details also cannot be published.
On August 31, Russell was found in possession of exploitation material knowing the child in the material was younger than 14.
Russell, known as “Billy” — who was supported in court by two women believed to be his mother and grandmother — refused to comment outside court. “Speak to my lawyer,” he said.
Chief Judge Michael Evans remanded Russell on continuing bail to face court for a pre-sentence hearing in September.
Originally published as William Russell, former Young South Australian of the Year finalist and teen online safety advocate, admits child sex charges
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