9 Mackay sex offenders vile crimes exposed

From preying on children at public shopping centres, t0 horror sex attacks, to an old man claiming his tiny victim tried to seduce him, here are nine predators from the Mackay region. WARNING: Distressing content

These nine men have been convicted of offending against woman and children.

From preying on children at public shopping centres, t0 horror sex attacks, to an old man claiming his tiny victim tried to seduce him, here are nine predators from the Mackay region.

Child sex offender caught with 5yo girl, underage material

A registered child sex offender has been caught having multiple conversations with a five-year-old, as well as secretly filming a teenager getting changed.

Matthew James McDonald, 27, faced Mackay Magistrates Court on five charges, just a fortnight after being sentenced for taking obscene photographs of children’s private parts at multiple Mackay stores including Bunnings and Kmart.

Matthew James McDonald.

McDonald, a Ball Bay man, had been jailed in Mackay District Court for repeatedly targeted children in public spaces, often just metres from their parents.

On August 23, 2021, he was with a supervisor per his bail agreement and yet still found the opportunity to corner an 8-year-old girl in the toy section of a Kmart.

His latest court appearance related to charges which predated the district court matters including failing to report as a child sex offender multiple contacts with a five-year-old girl over school holidays in 2018.

McDonald, who is listed on the Child Protection Offender Register, twice had unlawful possession of mobile phones capable of capturing photographs and video.

He used one of the mobiles to film an 18-year-old girl under a changing room at the Caneland Central Cotton On store in Mackay on September 21, 2018.

For the district court matters that included making child exploitation material he was jailed for two years and nine months.

For the magistrate court matters he was not further punished after having spent 714 days in pre sentence custody. He was eligible for parole in October.

Predator tells police he was ‘only human’ over vile ‘Lolita’ abuse

A predator who was “like family” to his young victim shockingly told police she seduced him after he took explicit photos and molested her.

The vile offending occurred in 2021 when the little girl was staying on a property south of Mackay where the man, aged in his 70s, lived.

They were not related but he was considered “family” to the seven-year-old girl.

Mackay District Court heard one afternoon he lured the little girl away on the promise of feeding the horses, but instead brought her to his home.

Crown prosecutor Lara Soldi said he removed her underwear and “asked her to lie on his bed like a star” before taking explicit photos and touching her with both his mouth and hands.

Two weeks earlier, she also had been at his home and he had taken multiple photos of her exposed genitals and bottom.

When police spoke to him, he said the seven-year-old victim “had been leading him on, but he didn’t want to get her in strife”.

“He said it started when she sat on his lap and asked for a cuddle and of course he felt aroused because in his words ‘he’s only human’,” Ms Soldi said.

The man pleaded guilty to indecent treatment against a child aged under 12 that included both touching and taking explicit photos. He has spent 282 days in custody on remand.

He was jailed for two years; 446 days will hang over his head for three years. He must also complete an 18-month probation order.

How man who paid for explicit photos from teen dodged jail

A lawyer for a Mackay man who engaged in an ongoing sugar-daddy-type relationship with an underage teen including paying her $200 for explicit photos and videos labelled it “not predatory conduct”.

Gregory Mark Benjamin, 59, walks free from Mackay District Court after he was placed on a wholly suspended sentence for child grooming and possessing child exploitation material. Picture: Duncan Evans

Barrister Matt Hynes said the teen, aged 14 at the time, had asked his client for money for the sexualised content – but the court heard he encouraged her to send “close ups” of her bare genitalia and chest.

Now 59-year-old Gregory Mark Benjamin will be on the child sex offenders registry for five years, however he narrowly avoided spending time in jail.

Mackay District Court heard the young teen had found out her older sister had been sending photos for money and suggested the same arrangement to Benjamin, who accepted.

The pair communicated for about 13 months with the photos and money exchange occurring over about a month in November 2020.

Crown prosecutor Jessica Guy said the teen sent between 10 and 20 explicit images and videos with Benjamin paying at least $200. Her aunt saw some of the content and phoned police.

Benjamin pleaded guilty to child grooming and possessing child exploitation material in Mackay. Ultimately he was handed an 18-month wholly suspended jail term to hang over his head for two years.

Convicted rapist appeals sex abuse case against daughter

A convicted Mackay rapist jailed for sexually abusing his own daughter has tried to argue there was a miscarriage of justice in his trial.

However an experienced Queensland Court of Appeals judge rejected the “formidable” challenge.

His daughter had been about nine or 10 when the offending began in 2014 within the Mackay region.

A recent court judgment stated one time she woke up to her father, who had come home drunk, digitally raping her after she had fallen asleep on the lounge.

Another instance of sexual abuse occurred years later in late 2018 when she was 13 – he had unlocked the door to her bedroom while she was asleep and again digitally raped her.

“She was scared and did not know what to do after waking up,” Justice James Henry said in the judgment.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was tried and convicted in Mackay District Court on two counts of rape. In July 2021 he was jailed for three years to serve 18 months.

The appeal was rejected.

‘What the hell went through his head’: Dad’s obscene video call to young teen

A judge has asked “what the hell went through his head” after learning a Mackay father made an obscene video call to an underage teen while he was naked and masturbating on the toilet.

When police tracked down Tre Jordan Patullo over the vile facetime call, he was hiding in a cupboard at his girlfriend’s home.

Mackay District Court heard that sometime between January and March 2022 the then 22 year old had asked the young teen, aged about 14 or 15, to video call over Snapchat.

Tre Jordan Patullo pleaded guilty to indecent treatment of a child under 16 over an obscene facetime via SnapChat.

Crown prosecutor Jessica Guy said during the call Patullo turned the phone around revealing he was “naked, sitting on a toilet and masturbating”.

The girl had been with a friend who filmed the video call and disclosed the offending to police.

Patullo, 23, pleaded guilty to indecent treatment of a child under 16 (expose).

“That type of interaction with children must be deterred and denounced by the courts,” Ms Guy said.

“His only explanation for that was he was on speed at the time,” defence barrister Paul Rutledge said.

Patullo was released on a nine-month intensive corrections order. A conviction was recorded.

Child distraught, screaming, crying: Paedophile blames ‘moment of madness’

A 68-year-old Mackay man described the moment he molested a girl as a “moment of madness”, as the devastating impact of his vile crime was revealed in a heartbreaking victim impact statement.

Paul Anthony Gregory put his head in his hands as his victim’s father described the “stain on our family that each of us will have to live with for the rest of our lives”.

The vile sexual abuse occurred in April 2022.

Crown prosecutor Michelle Parfitt said Gregory exposed himself to the girl and asked her to masturbate him.

“He told the complainant to ‘get the cream’,” Ms Parfitt said.

“He told the complainant not to tell her mother.”

Mackay District Court heard Gregory lifted the child’s clothing and groped her under it.

Defence barrister Scott McLellan said his client was deeply remorseful about his offending and had attempted suicide before his arrest.

Gregory asked permission to speak, apologising profusely for what he described as “a moment of madness”.

He pleaded guilty to four counts of indecent treatment of a child under 12. He was jailed for 18 months to be suspended for two years after parole release on November 4.

Rapist pushes back against penalty over horror attack

A rapist jailed for eight years for a horrific sex attack against his long term partner has failed to have the convictions quashed or the penalty reduced.

The pair had been together for about 10 years, were living together and had children.

“The relationship was a violent one,” a court judgment revealed.

In early 2019 the pair were drinking when the horror attack unfolded in the Mackay district.

He dragged her into their bedroom, ordered her to remove her clothes and then raped her.

“(She) was crying and telling him to stop. He did not stop,” Court of Appeal president Justice Walter Sofronoff said in the judgment.

“He told her that her crying was making him ‘horny’ and he continued.”

He later raped her a second time and told her “it would be easy to kill her” – he also ordered her to touch herself before orally raping her.

“(She) asked him to stop because she could not take it anymore,” Justice Sofronoff said.

He tried to claim to police the woman had “turned our role play … into a reality (because) she wants me out of the house” and while in custody on remand he called her multiple times to get her to withdraw the complaint.

In October 2020 a Mackay District Court jury found the man, then 47, guilty of rape, procuring a woman without her consent, committing an act of gross indecency, unlawful choking and breaching a domestic violence order.

He was jailed in April 2021 for eight years. Self represented, the man applied to the Court of Appeal to overturn the convictions arguing the “verdicts were unsound”, or the penalty reduced on the grounds it was too harsh. The application was rejected.

Stepfather learns fate over rape verdict

A man has been jailed for five-and-a-half years for having an incestuous relationship with his vulnerable teen stepdaughter about 10 years ago after she had just moved to Mackay.

As a result she fell pregnant and the man, then in his 40s who cannot be named to protect his victim’s identity, and her mother took her to Townsville to get an abortion.

Now aged in his 50s, the man was initially charged with four counts of rape at an East Mackay unit, to which he had pleaded not guilty.

But after a five-day trial in Mackay District Court a jury found him not guilty of all rape charges but guilty of three counts of incest.

Crown prosecutor Siobhan Harrison said the verdicts showed the jury accepted the girl’s descriptions of the incidents as reliable and as occurring in her room as opposed to suggestions that she had made advances on her stepfather, but could not be satisfied there was no consent.

Judge Deborah Richards found the man had taken advantage of a “very vulnerable young lady” when she was a young teen and had just moved to Australia with limited understanding of the language and no family other than her mother and stepfather.

“I do not accept any suggestion that she seduced you,” Judge Richards said.

“I find that you took advantage of her vulnerability.”

He has parole eligibility on February 26, 2024 after serving 22 months. Convictions were recorded.

Victim traps sex abusing stepdad on secret recording

A young woman, who secretly recorded her abusive former stepfather admit his vile conduct on a phone call, has revealed the depth of her emotional distress following his assault in a confronting victim impact statement.

“I will not let what he did to me haunt me for the rest of my life,” she shared.

“Nobody believed me and believed what I had gone through. Even my own mother didn’t believe me.”

The 47-year-old Mackay man pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting his ex-wife’s daughter when she was just 12 years old.

Mackay District Court heard how the little girl’s mother had previously forced her to retract her allegations of abuse, but believed her daughter when faced with the tape that included an apology for the crime.

Crown prosecutor Caitlin Penfold said the offending occurred in mid 2013 at their Mackay region home where he “took off his clothes” and joined her as she was showering.

The court heard the child got out and left the room but he called her back asking for a towel.

“She entered the room and saw the defendant standing naked,” Ms Penfold said.

The court heard he then touched her genitals over her clothes as she practised the splits in her sister’s room the following day.

The court heard she called her former stepfather while her boyfriend secretly recorded the conversation.

Judge Tony Moynihan said he took the man’s remorse and confession into account and jailed him for 15 months imprisonment, suspended for two years after serving three months.

Originally published as 9 Mackay sex offenders vile crimes exposed