Victim hits out at ‘short’ jail sentence for paedophile as she describes horrific details in trial

The teenage victim of a 36-year-old child predator who was taken advantage of when she was just 14 has lashed out at his light jail sentence.

The teenage victim of a 36-year-old child predator has slammed the “disappointing” jail sentence given to the offender, which could see him released from prison as early as next June.

Hockey player and tree logger Joshua Thomas Keith Coonan faced Gosford District Court for sentencing last Tuesday after a jury found him guilty of seven counts of having sex with a 14-year-old girl.

Mr Coonan was given a prison sentence of three years and six months, backdated to September when he was taken into custody.

However, he could be released as early as June 2025, as he was also given a non-parole period of 21 months.

The victim has also now described disturbing parts of the trial, including the trauma from the experience of the court process.

Throughout the trial, the jury heard how Mr Coonan intially met the girl when he was 24 and she was 14 through friends in January 2012.

Mr Coonan then added her on Facebook shortly after the meeting, sending her a message saying she had “one of the best bodies he had ever seen”.

exts between Mr Coonan (white) and the victim (blue) which were used as evidence in the trial.

Texts between Mr Coonan (white) and the victim (blue).

Mr Coonan continued messaging the teenager, encouraging her to sneak out of her parent’s home and sleepover at his house on multiple occasions. At one point, Mr Coonan even addressed the inappropriate age gap in their messages writing “so I’ve got 10 years and 18 days on you lol”. Police documents reveal that in mid-2012, Mr Coonan took the victim and a friend of the same age on a “double date” to Tuggerah Westfield with one of his friends.

When Mr Coonan told his friend they were both 14 his friend had an “alarmed expression” on his face and “wasn’t happy”.

“The offender later sent the victim a text mesage stating that...the offender didn’t have a problem with it and wanted to keep seeing the victim,” the documents stated.

The documents also reveal how the victim initially told him she “wasn’t ready” to have sex but eventually did so to “keep him happy”.

The relationship ended in November 2012 when the victim forgot to sign out of Facebook on her mother’s phone. The victim’s mother read the messages between the pair before reporting Mr Coonan to the police.

Mr Coonan found out the victim’s mother had gone to police and called the victim, telling her she should not have told anyone, as he was now getting “death threats” for having “sex with a child”.

At the time, the victim eventually told police what happened but refused to provide a statement as she did not want to get Mr Coonan “in trouble”.

Charges were laid in October 2021 when the now-adult victim came forward, telling police she was now ready to give a statement.

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Joshua Coonan, 36, formerly played hockey for The Entrance Hockey Club on Sydney’s Central Coast. Picture: Instagram

Speaking to news.com.au, the victim, who did not wish to be publicly named, said she feared the short sentence handed down could deter others from coming forward about their experiences.

“I was quite shocked, to be honest,” the now-26-year-old said about the sentence.

“Because it’s been dragged out since 2021. It didn’t actually get to trial until 2023 and that went on for like, two weeks and I had to give evidence for three days.”

He was initially hit with 15 charges by police however was found not guilty of eight of the offences by the jury.

Mr Coonan faced Gosford Court House last week. Picture: NCA NewsWire/David Swift

Since coming forward in 2021, the victim said she had spent about $26,000 on therapy, medication and hospital bills due to the impact of the case on her mental health.

She said she also lost 12kg due to anxiety and even had to resign from her job and defer multiple semesters of university due to the impact of the case.

“It’s affected pretty much every aspect of my life,” she said.

Joshua Coonan, 36, was sentenced in Gosford Local Court last week. Picture: Instagram

In her impact statement, the victim told the court how she was a “bright and bubbly” Year 9 student before she was “groomed” by Mr Coonan in 2012. Picture: Instagram

She said the DPP was looking into appealing the sentence, however, she feared going through the process again.

“I just wanted victims to know it’s never too late to come forward, you’re still holding them accountable regardless of the verdict or outcome,” she said.

“I hope for the community’s sake, he doesn’t try to reoffend and I hope our judicial system starts to take our children’s safety more seriously in the future”.