Nicholas Emmanuel Athans: DJ who groomed teens for sex was ‘not much older than victims’

A court has been told why a paedophile DJ who groomed four teens for sex and messaged them on Facebook shouldn’t be handed a jail sentence.

An Adelaide event promoter and DJ who groomed four underage girls for sex shouldn’t be handed a jail sentence because he was not much older than his victims, a court has been told.

Nicholas Emmanuel Athans, of Ridleyton, contacted the teenagers through his business Facebook page Yeah Hard Entertainment between April 2016 and July 2017.

At the time he was aged 21 and 22, and his victims were aged between 14 and 16.

He was later charged with four counts of procuring a child to engage in or submit to sexual activity and stood trial by judge alone after pleading not guilty.

But District Court Judge Sophie David found Athans guilty of all four charges in January this year.

He was also permitted to continue with his bail conditions.

Nicholas Emmanuel Athans was a DJ and event promoter who repeatedly sent explicit images and messages to underage girls to solicit them for sex. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Mariuz

In his court appearance on Wednesday, Athans was again allowed to remain on bail despite the prosecution’s ongoing efforts to have it revoked.

The prosecutor claimed Athans breached his bail on April 14 because he possessed a mobile phone that was able to access the internet.

Repeating his submission made in the previous hearing, the prosecutor said: “The defendant does, for reasons set out in my previous written submissions, face an inevitable period in custody to be served and that should commence today.”

But Marie Shaw QC, for the defence, disputed claims that Athans would face an “inevitable period” of imprisonment.

She argued that her client was not much older than his victims at the time of his offending and could instead be handed a home-detention sentence.

“The defendant was not necessarily excluded from a home-detention sentence … or liable to a mandatory (jail) term,” Ms Shaw told the court.

“The defendant was 20 years of age at the time of his first offence and … the circumstances of the alleged victims’ ages, and age difference (between them and Athans), makes it appropriate for home detention to apply, and (he) was not in a position of authority.”

Athans made no comment as he left the Adelaide District Court on Wednesday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Mariuz

Ms Shaw requested a psychological assessment and medical report for her client who suffered from Bell’s palsy, a form of temporary facial paralysis or weakness on one side of the face that causes drooping or stiffness.

“We need to have him examined in relation to that. That has not occurred and that's very difficult in custody,” she said.

“If your honour thinks it’s necessary, we can arrange for additional guarantors or a curfew or other conditions of bail that would potentially be more onerous if your honour was concerned that was necessary.”

Justice Sophie David denied the prosecution's application and allowed Athans to continue with his current bail conditions while living at his parent’s address.

The court was told the defendant had previously been on home-detention bail from August 2017 to April 2018.

Athans made no comment as he left the court.

During his trial, the court was told that Athans used Snapchat to send the girls multiple photos of his penis as well as photos of him in his Calvin Klein underwear.

He also told one victim he would give her free tickets if she “sent him something”.

Athans is due to reappear in court later this month.