Verdict revealed: Mareeba man, Shawn Michael Pinnell Chynoweth, 29, charged with telling teens he wanted to have sex with their babies

The verdict of the 29-year-old Mareeba man charged with trying to have illicit sex with three underage girls and telling them he wanted to have sex with their babies has been handed down.

The man told a man he thought was a 10-year-old girl that he wanted to make her pregnant and have sex with his babies. Photo: iStock

A Cairns District Court jury has found a Mareeba man charged with trying to have sex with three underage girls and telling them he wanted to get them pregnant so he could have sex with their babies, guilty.

Shawn Michael Pinnell Chynoweth, 29, faced two charges of using the internet to procure a minor under the age of 16, one charge of using the internet to procure a minor under the age 16 and one of making child exploitation material.

Mr Chynoweth denies all charges, pleaded not guilty and represented himself in court.

The court heard the charges came about after a man posed as a 15-year-old and added Mr Chynoweth’s account.

Giving evidence, the man told the court he created the account because he was concerned about Mr Chynoweth’s conduct toward his 14-year-old sister.

“I wanted to see who this man was and what he was capable of,” he said.

“I wanted to protect my sister.”

The court heard the man was concerned because he said his sister had mentioned Mr Chynoweth had been “giving her a weird smirk” one day at a supermarket, and had been “peeping around corners, giving her a wink”.

The man said Mr Chynoweth had also one day driven multiple times past the girl in his car where he would watch her and appeared to be driving around a block repeatedly so he could sight the 14-year-old.

A man who said he was “trying to protect my sister” set-up the fake account and chat to Shawn Chynoweth after he was concerned with how he was behaving around the 14-year-old. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Nicholas Eagar

A total of 93 pages of Instagram messages were shown to the jury on Monday afternoon, with many of the jury members gasping audibly in shock as Crown prosecutor Seamus McManus read the messages out.

The conversation began with the man claiming to be a 15-year-old girl and sending photos.

In the early stages of the conversation Mr Chynoweth told the girl “I like collecting girls a bit like a harem” but suggested they meet up with “the girl” when she turns 16.

However, a few days later Mr Chynoweth then sent a series of gushing messages saying, “I can’t stop thinking about you. I must have you”.

“I would love to bring you over for a sleepover,” he said.

He then proceeded to ask about her breast size and said, “I love a small body. It’s like my favourite thing. The younger, the better”.

The man then told Mr Chynoweth that they knew of a 14-year-old who was her friend and the man used the name of his 14-year-old sister.

Mr Chynoweth then offered a threesome with the two girls saying, “A 14 year old, a 15 year old and a 27 year old – how naughty …” before sending more vulgar messages.

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“I want to get both of you pregnant,” Mr Chynoweth said with some love hearts emojis.

The court heard the account created by the man pretending to be the 15-year-old and then said he was a 10-year-old girl using the same account.

The court heard the man pretending to be a 10-year-old then said: “What will you do to the babies when they get older?”

Mr Chynoweth then said he would wait until the babies “become sexy” when they turn one before having sex with them.

In cross-examining the man who created the fake account, Mr Chynoweth who appeared in court wearing thongs and a baggy T-shirt, suggested that his then girlfriend who was pregnant at the time logged into his account to send the messages.

The man suggested to the who he thought was a 14-year-old and a 15-year-old that they meet at Cairns Central.

However, the court was shown evidence that posed photographs of Mr Chynoweth shirtless sent from his account were found on his phone, along with screenshots of the messages from the conversation and a photo of a newspaper article of the 14-year-old he had taken a photo of.

He never called his ex-girlfriend as a witness, but she denies having anything to do with the messages and the court heard the police saw no reason to investigate her further after Mr Chynoweth made the allegations about her.

The court also heard from Mr Chynoweth’s former housemate who said Mr Chynoweth told him he was speaking to a 14-year-old and 15-year-old online, and was hoping to meet up with them in Cairns.

At the end of the trial, the jury were presented with 12 exhibits – including in the material in Mr Chynoweth’s photo galleries in his phone just before the judge gave her final summing up of the matter.

It took the jury less than an hour to return with a verdict.

The jury returned less than hour later with unanimous verdict. Mr Chynoweth was found guilty on all charges.

Mr Chynoweth, whose strong body odour was noticeable throughout the court-room, looked at first stunned by the verdict then the bashful, unassuming disposition he had during the trial gave way to an apparent look of seething rage. He looked sideways several times at the jurors who returned to an otherwise empty galley to watch the conviction.

Mr Chynoweth, who told who he thought was a 14-year-old that he wanted to be “attorney so I can help people” said he would be representing himself during the sentencing due to take place Wednesday, December 20.

Originally published as Verdict revealed: Mareeba man, Shawn Michael Pinnell Chynoweth, 29, charged with telling teens he wanted to have sex with their babies