Burnie man expected to plead guilty to serious sexual abuse of overseas children
A Burnie man is expected to enter guilty pleas to a raft of serious child sexual abuse charges against overseas children.
Tasmania
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A Burnie man is expected to enter guilty pleas to a raft of serious child sexual abuse charges against overseas children.
The case against John Oldfield Nettleton, 39, has now dragged through the court for years since he was first charged in 2019.
On Thursday, he appeared in Hobart at the Supreme Court of Tasmania – with lawyer Stephen Wright announcing Mr Nettleton was ready to enter pleas to 55 charges.
Mr Nettleton previously pleaded not guilty to a total of 73 charges across three indictments, and was expected to stand trial this September.
But prosecutor Jonathan Manning told the court on Thursday that if Mr Nettleton entered guilty pleas to all 55 charges on one of the indictments, the Crown would not proceed with a trial.
Mr Nettleton’s long list of charges include seven counts of procuring a child to engage in sexual activity outside Australia, one count of persistent sexual abuse of a child outside Australia, and four counts of engaging in sexual intercourse with a child outside Australia.
He’s additionally charged with 14 counts of preparing or planning to engage in sexual intercourse with a child, and 21 counts of using a carriage service to transmit, publish or advertise child pornography material.
Mr Manning told Justice Tamara Jago he was concerned the case had previously reached this point on two occasions in the past – in which Mr Nettleton was due to enter pleas – but that it hadn’t yet resolved.
Mr Manning said there was “significant trial preparation underway” and the Crown was concerned about a trial being scheduled, then vacated.
He asked Justice Tamara Jago for an arraignment hearing in the near future, in which Mr Nettleton would be required to enter pleas.
But Mr Wright told Justice Jago he was expecting the matter to resolve.
“My current instruction is to have the matter resolved by way of plea, and without trial,” he said.
Justice Jago, noting Mr Nettleton had changed lawyers “with reasonable regularity”, set down an arraignment hearing for next Tuesday.
He was remanded in custody until that time.
Australian Federal Police previously said Mr Nettleton’s charges were among the first after the national agency first joined forces with Tasmania Police in the Tasmanian Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team.
Mr Nettleton’s charges relate to alleged activity between March 2016 and February 2018.
Originally published as Burnie man expected to plead guilty to serious sexual abuse of overseas children
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