Christopher Paul Wakefield jailed for child grooming, exploitation

A married Army cadet leader claims he ‘fell in love’ with an underage teen becoming so infatuated he put a tracking app on the boy’s phone. TRIGGER WARNING

Sarina father Christopher Paul Wakefield was jailed for child grooming, exploitation in Mackay region.

A married Army cadet leader claims he “fell in love” with an underage teen becoming so infatuated he put a tracking app on the boy’s phone and secretly recorded him showering.

Sarina father Christopher Paul Wakefield spent about 18 months grooming his victim — who was more than three decades younger — including buying him gifts and encouraging the teen to sleep in a bed with him when he was shirtless.

Mackay District Court heard then 47-48, Wakefield “became fixated” on his young victim and would often call or text him saying “how much he missed him”.

He downloaded the Life360 app on the teen’s phone which he used to track his movements and when they slept in the same bed, he hugged the teen from behind.

Crown prosecutor Monique Sheppard said the boy told a school counsellor, who told police.

The court heard Wakefield and the teen knew each other.

Officers searched his home in 2023 and found a number of letters where Wakefield professed his love for the teen, including that he was “in love with the (victim) more than he’d know”.

The court heard he had visited a psychic around this time and had encouraged him to put all the “bad thoughts” on paper and “give them to the universe and in a way get them out of (his) head”.

There was a photo of the child on his bedside table.

Wakefield wrote love letters to the teenager, found at his home.

Police seized a number of electronic devices on which they found a video of the teen naked and showering that Wakefield had covertly recorded after secretly installing a camera in a bathroom.

A number of still images from that recording were also found on his phone.

Now 50, Wakefield kept his head down as the details were read.

Two people were in court in support when he pleaded guilty to grooming a child under 16 between 2021 and 2023, making and possessing child exploitation material in the Mackay region.

Ms Sheppard said Wakefield admitted he was “sexually attracted” to the victim but claimed he would never act on it, in contrast to the offending he pleaded guilty to.

Defence barrister Scott Moon, for Wakefield, said a psychologist report revealed his client had been under a number of “psychostressors” at the time of his offending including financial hardship, marriage breakdown and his parents’ seriously ailing health.

The court heard Wakefield, once satisfied with heterosexual pornography, had transcended into homosexual pornography during the offending time frame and expressed to the psychologist how he was “confused and ashamed”.

Mr Moon said the report indicated the offending did not reveal pedophilic or hebephilic tendencies, “rather a morbid attraction to the child” and his risk of reoffending was low to moderate.

“There is genuine remorse expressed in relation to this,” Mr Moon said.

The court heard Wakefield had been employed since he was 14 and was supported by his current employer, who was aware of the offending, and he had also been involved in Army cadets since his teens.

“Not only has he brought shame upon himself upon his family … (he’s) brought shame upon the organisation that he enjoys,” Mr Moon said.

The court heard Wakefield had also been in a relationship, was married for nine years but separated at the time, and had three children.

In pushing for a non custodial penalty, Mr Moon said Wakefield was solely responsible for the care of one of his children who refused to stay with anyone else and would be significantly disadvantaged if his father was jailed.

He also argued the offending was on the lower end for that type of charge.

“While grooming is protracted and involved the tracking device … the particular offending itself points to hugging of the child,” Mr Moon said.

But Judge Gregory Lynham was not persuaded there were any exceptional circumstances that would call for a non custodial sentence, highlighting both the tracking app and secret shower recording as “troubling” aspects of the case.

Judge Lynham said the heart of the offending was sexually exploiting a child and described Wakefield’s conduct as “utterly appalling and irrational”.

Wakefield was jailed for 18 months which will be suspended after serving three months. The remainder will hang over his head for two years and convictions were recorded.

Originally published as Christopher Paul Wakefield jailed for child grooming, exploitation