Punishment does not fit crime says mother as Aiden Lee Orr sentenced in Cairns court for grooming

A former church volunteer a has been jailed for grooming a young boy, and his distraught mother feels the punishment doesn’t fit the crime.

A former volunteer at the Calvary Christian Church in Cairns has been sentenced for grooming a young boy.

And the boy’s distraught mother said she felt the punishment meted out to 27-year-old Aiden Lee Orr didn’t fit the crime.

On Thursday, Orr was sentenced to a jail term after pleading guilty to using a carriage service to transmit/make available child abuse material, grooming a child under 16, and exposing a child under 12 to indecent material.

More than 4000 text messages

“He sent him over 4000 text messages, was sending sexual images of himself, and requesting similar images be sent back,” the boy’s mother said.

“He added my son on social media, he got his phone number and was communicating to him very inappropriately during that time, asking him where he lived.”

Aiden Lee Orr, 27, was a volunteer at Calvary Christian Church in Cairns before his arrest.

When the boy’s mum went through his phone and found the messages, she called police.

“Within 24 hours he was arrested,” she said.

“He was a volunteer at a big church in town, and he was also trying to get my child to go to his youth group.”

She said that during the course of the events, her son’s schoolwork slipped.

“He wasn’t eating, sleeping, he was essentially in a depression, had a lot of anxiety, his relationships suffered, there was definitely a lot of that,” she said.

Orr released on bail

Orr was arrested in January this year, but spent the rest of the year on bail until his sentencing on Thursday, the boy’s mother said.

“His bail conditions were he was not allowed to come near us, but he’s been working at (a fast food restaurant) which I found very frustrating, because you can be a child and work there, and you can hand out meals to children.”

The boy and his family have been through an ordeal, which could have been relieved by Orr’s sentencing.

But they say the legal process only made the situation worse.

Let off the hook: mother

“This man was eventually let off the hook,” she said.

“I’m extremely disappointed.

“The punishment doesn’t fit the crime.”

Judge Tracy Fantin sentenced Orr to 12 months imprisonment, suspended after three months, with a two-year, $200 good behaviour bond.

The Calvary Church said it has a strong commitment to the safety of children and is proactive in keeping children and young people safe.

Calvary Church’s statement

Calvary Christian Church senior Pastor Dustan Bell said the church held a strong commitment to the safety of children and took a proactive approach to keeping children and young people safe.

“The convicted individual... was a volunteer at Calvary Church Cairns when he was charged by police concerning a matter unrelated to his volunteer role. He was immediately removed from his volunteer role and has not returned to volunteering at Calvary,” Mr Bell said.

“Regarding the future employment or volunteering of a person who has been convicted of child sexual offences into a role that works with children and young people, Calvary Church has a robust Child Protection Policy and Framework which upholds the same commitments as the Blue Card Screening system.

“As such, any person who has been convicted of child sexual offences would be unsuitable for employment or volunteering at Calvary Church.”

‘The system has failed’

The boy’s mother remains disappointed.

“The system has failed my son,” she said.

Originally published as Punishment does not fit crime says mother as Aiden Lee Orr sentenced in Cairns court for grooming