Katherine exercise scientist Sean Patrick Battye has faced court on child abuse material charges

A Territory health professional posed as a young girl and blackmailed children to convince them into sending him explicit images. Find out how he targeted his victims.

A Katherine health professional who posed as a teenage girl and blackmailed children to send him child exploitation material on a popular online chat service has pleaded guilty to almost 40 charges.

Sean Patrick Battye, 30, appeared in the Supreme Court on Friday charged with 39 offences including using a carriage service to obtain child abuse material, using a carriage service to groom a person under 16 and transmitting indecent communication to a person under 16.

The accredited exercise scientist was arrested in March after the Australian Federal Police’s Child Protection Triage Unit received information from authorities in the United States in 2021.

Katherine physio Sean Battye has pleaded guilty to 39 counts relating to child exploitation material. Picture: Supplied

Between October 2021 and March 2022, Battye used the online chat platform Discord to target 19 different children aged between 10 and 15, the court heard.

He did this posing as a girl aged between 10 and 14 who he said identified as polyamorous and bisexual in order to win the trust of his victims.

During the conversations Battye received “sexually explicit images” of the victims and “engaged in sexually explicit conversations”, as well as sending explicit images which he told the victims were images of the girl he was posing to be to prove she was a “real person” and not a “creepy old man”.

He would ask the victims if they wanted to be his girlfriend and engage in “sexually explicit conversations which included sexual role play with the victim”.

Posing as a girl, Battye would occasionally introduce a man named Sean into the conversation as his persona’s babysitter and tell them Sean thought the victim was “sexy or hot”.

Battye was arrested in March after the Australian Federal Police received information from authorities in the United States. Picture: Supplied

He would then ask the victim to add Sean on Snapchat so they could talk privately.

The court also heard Battye, who is in protection at the Holtze Correctional Facility, would threaten to share images he had received of his victims with other group chats if they refused to send more.

“The accused would specifically threaten to distribute images of the victim if they did not send further content,” Senior Counsel representing the Crown, Mary Chalmers SC, said.

In total, Battye transmitted 36 files categorised as child abuse material and received 34 files as a “result of his requests” during the conversations.

There is no evidence Battye intended to meet the victims in person.

Katherine physio Sean Battye has pleaded guilty to 39 counts relating to child exploitation material. Picture: Supplied

A psychiatric report tendered to the court said Battye had been diagnosed with Klinefelter syndrome, a genetic condition that causes low testosterone and sperm production in males, and this was a “cause” of his offending.

The report also said Battye had become “desensitised” to pornography and “morbidly curious about the taboo” of child abuse material.

During a search of his home, police seized Battye’s phone, which had 31 images and videos categorised as child abuse material on it.

Ms Chalmers said Battye “operated with a specific and recurring methodology” and his offending was “sexually motivated” and “highly manipulative”.

Battye’s offending was described as “sexually motivated” and “highly manipulative”. Picture: Supplied

“He gets sexually aroused by viewing child abuse material of minors,” Ms Chalmers said.

“He guesses he has always had a sexual interest in young female children.

“He used Discord to share and distribute child abuse material and at his peak he would use Discord once a day for sexual gratification.”

Battye’s lawyer Peter Maley asked Acting Justice Trevor Riley not to impose a “crushing sentence on this first-time offender”.

“He (Battye) says he doesn’t recognise the person who did that.

“He was living a double life. There’s a degree of disbelief as to what he did. He said he feels disgusted and horrific.”

Battye will be sentenced next week and faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in jail.

*For 24-hour sexual violence support call the national hotline 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or MensLine on 1800 600 636.