Palm Island man Lance David Poynter sentenced in Townsville District Court after undercover cop investigation exposed grooming

A psychologist has labelled a man’s offending as portraying ‘sexual deviance’ and reported he is at ‘medium’ risk of reoffending after being caught messaging who he thought was a 13-year-old girl on Facebook.

Lance David Poynter sentenced in Townsville District Court for grooming who he thought was a 13-year-old girl on Facebook. Picture: Facebook

A man who messaged back and forth with who he thought was a 13-year-old girl, and asked her if she would let him perform sex acts on her, has appeared in court after finding out the teen was an undercover cop.

Lance David Poynter faced Townsville District Court on Friday after an undercover police investigation found him to be grooming someone he thought was a young girl.

Crown prosecutor Rana Aldas told the court that in June 2022 the 53-year-old became Facebook friends with someone he thought to be a 13-year-old girl named Abby.

Ms Aldas said the Palm Island man struck up a conversation with the girl and even asked her if she would delete him knowing how old he was, and they agreed to stay friends with the man telling her she seemed “very mature”.

“He complimented Abby and used terms such as ‘beautiful, attractive, sweet’ and he sent a picture of himself, he was shirtless,” the crown said.

“He requested a voice recording from Abby and pictures of her in her bikini.”

The crown told the court it was evident he knew what he was doing was wrong as he told the child to delete their messages at the end of each day.

“There were detailed discussions about sexual acts he wanted the child to perform on him and for him to perform on her,” Ms Aldas said.

“He asked her if she was ready for a lesson on how to touch herself.. and asked if she would let him perform sex acts on her.”

On July 8 in 2022 police recognised the man at a Palm Island medical centre where they then searched his property and confirmed he was the man in contact with the fake teen.

The court was told that while on bail he continued to offend in relation to drugs and was found in possession of a small amount of marijuana.

Defence barrister Michael Hibble instructed by Legal Aid Queensland told the court the offending is more serious when a child is involved, with Judge Jennifer Rosengren interjecting and reiterating it was still a serious matter.

The defence lawyer submitted a letter of apology written by Poynter, and told the court the man had experienced family related trauma while on Palm Island and highlighted he had never been charged with an offence of sexual nature before.

“He is a person who actually has quite a bit of potential in the sense, he was doing a course to be a mentor up until he surrendered,” Mr Hibble said.

“Despite his offending in the past, one can appreciate how he functions in the community. This is out of character for him, he apologises.”

Her Honour reflected on the offences and touched on the report submitted by a psychologist that stated they believed his behaviour indicated “sexual deviance” and that the risk of sexual recidivism was in the low to medium range.

While the judge re-read the facts Poynter stood with his head down.

“To your credit you’ve been getting counselling though it seems to be largely around building connections with family and the broader community,” Her Honour said.

Poynter pleaded guilty to using the internet to procure a child, grooming and possessing drugs and drug utensils.

He was sentenced to nine months’ jail, suspended after serving three months for an operational period of two years with the 65 days he spent in pre-sentence custody declared as time served.

Originally published as Palm Island man Lance David Poynter sentenced in Townsville District Court after undercover cop investigation exposed grooming