Man who attempted to groom teen for sex makes bizarre attempt to duck media

A Sydney man who attempted to groom a teenage girl for sex has attempted to evade media after a court was told details of his vile crimes.

WARNING: Graphic content

A Sydney man who attempted to groom a 13-year-old girl has denied he was a predator as he pleaded not to be sent to jail, a court has been told.

Baby-faced Zane Clark on Friday sat silently in Sydney’s Downing Centre District Court as he prepares of learn his fate after he admitted to sending a teenage victim a barrage of sexually charged messages.

Police also found a cache of child abuse material, featuring children as young as five years old, when they raided his Maroubra home in April 2021, according to court documents.

Prosecutor Bethaney Debenham told the court that Clark, 20, denied he had a sexual interest in children.

She told Judge Gina O’Rourke during a sentence hearing that in documents tendered to the court he had put his offending down to a “messed-up curiosity” and an interest in “biology and genetics”.

“He did not view his behaviour as predatory,” she said.

She described him as a risk of reoffending and asked for him to be jailed.

Clark is facing up to 15 years behind bars after he pleaded guilty to a string of offences and confessed to pursuing a teenage girl he met online.

He pleaded guilty to using a carriage service to procure a child under 16 for unlawful sexual activity.

He also pleaded guilty to possessing child abuse material and using a carriage service to transmit/publish child abuse material.

In court he was supported by friends and family, who tried to shield his face from the media as he exited court.

Zane Clark was shielded by family and friends as he exited the court. Picture: NewsWire / Monique Harmer.

Clark, seen here following a previous court appearance, pleaded guilty to multiple child sex offences.

Just moments prior, the court was told how Clark had used a messaging app to approach the girl and bombard her with sexual questions.

According to court documents, he came on the radar of authorities in March 2020 when the aunt of a 13-year-old girl made a report to police.

Clark had told the girl she was “heaps cute and hot” and asked her “Are you ever sexual?”

“It’s hard not to be turned on around you. If you want a boyfriend I’ll happily date you,” he said.

Clark sent the girl a shirtless pic of himself, telling her “I don’t care about age”.

“How long will we date before we start doing naughty stuff? Gotta make a choice bub … I’m a guy, I can’t wait forever,” he told her according to court documents.

“Can you give me a time so I can get somewhat excited?”

Ms Debenham said Clark knew what he was doing was wrong, pointing to messages he sent to the girl in which he told her that if he was caught “I’ll be sent to jail”.

She said that Clark had attempted to “manipulate” the girl into sexual activity.

“If you loved me more you would have shown me your body on the Skype call that time,” he said in another message to the girl.

Clark will learn next month whether he will be jailed.

When Australian Federal Police officers raided Clark’s home they found two iPhones loaded with more than 60 pictures and 60 videos, with children as young as five years old engaged in sexual activity.

According to court documents, the videos included children having sex with adults and posing while naked and urinating.

He had also sent messages to an unknown person asking for pictures of children and sent two pictures of naked girls.

Clark’s barrister Tomislav Bicanic submitted Clark should not be jailed, saying his offending was connected to his learning difficulties, ADHD and autism spectrum disorder.

Mr Bicanic proposed that Clark be given a two-year sentence and released to serve it in the community

“It’s a lenient approach, I concede that,” Mr Bicanic said.

Clark will be sentenced by Judge O’Rourke on August 19.