Club and governing body issue statements on Darwin sports star busted allegedly grooming children on Snapchat and Instagram

EXCLUSIVE: The club – as well as the region’s governing body – of the high-profile Darwin sportsman busted for allegedly grooming children moved swiftly to have him reported to police.

The club – as well as the region’s governing body – of the high-profile Darwin sportsman busted for allegedly grooming children moved swiftly to have him reported to police.

THE club – as well as the region’s governing body – of the high-profile Darwin sportsman busted for allegedly grooming children moved swiftly to have him reported to police.

The 25-year-old, who cannot be named under NT law, applied for bail in the Darwin Local Court on Monday after police charged him with possessing child abuse material and grooming.

In opposing bail, Commonwealth prosecutor Angela Liantzakis told the court that police had interviewed one of the man’s alleged victims, while officers were still “tracking down” up to another six.

Defence lawyer Clement Ng requested a bail assessment report, saying any risk to the community could be mitigated by electronic monitoring and a cash surety from his mother.

“Perhaps some conditions by way of restricting access to a device or any device, that might be necessary and proportionate to address the risk,” he said.

But Liantzakis said the man would pose an unacceptable risk to the safety of children in the community if granted bail, saying it would be “easy” to acquire another device.

In remanding the man in custody, judge Alan Woodcock said there were no conditions the court could impose that would mitigate the risk to the alleged victims if he was released.

With the news shaking up the Top End sporting community this week, the man’s club issued this statement:

“With the information brought to us, we reported the matter to the relevant authority through our member protection policy. It’s now with the police”.

And this statement was issued through the sport’s governing body in the
region:

“A matter was brought to the attention of our organisation and was immediately actioned in accordance with our member protection policy. In line with the policy the matter was referred to the relevant authorities and is now being handled by police. We are working closely with the club and providing support to their members and the community”.

On Monday, Liantzakis said the man had made “some admissions” to police.

And while he had described his contact with the children as “innocent banter”, he also told police he recorded them “to ensure he had blackmail material against the child”.

Joint Anti-Child Exploitation Team Detective Acting Senior Sergeant Paul Lawson said the man’s alleged behaviour was “despicable”.

The man returns to court in July.