Maurice James Cox, 66, groomed six children online – four who were already being sexually abused

A paedophile who asked four of his six victims about the sexual abuse they were experiencing at the hands of other adults – including a dance instructor and a sailing teacher – relished in their abuse and expressed jealousy.

A paedophile who asked four of his six victims about the sexual abuse they were experiencing at the hands of other adults – including a dance instructor and a sailing teacher – relished in their abuse and expressed jealousy.

Maurice James Cox, 66, was sentenced in Rockhampton District Court on February 8 after pleading guilty to eight counts of grooming children aged under 16, eight of using electronic communication to procure children, one of using a carriage service to transmit child exploitation material and one of using a carriage service to access child exploitation material.

Cox was a registered sex offender when he contacted the six female children, aged 10-14, over a five-month period in 2020.

One child lived in South Africa and one in the United Kingdom.

Crown prosecutor Tiffany Lawrence said one of the children was an undercover police officer who pretended to be a 14-year-old girl.

She said Cox used three different platforms and different fake identities to chat to his victims.

Ms Lawrence said he expressed he wanted to have sex with all of them, requested photographs of them and managed to obtain photographs from one victim many times.

“He sent photographs of himself with his face obscured but with full view of his (genitals),” she said.

Maurice James Cox, 66, pleaded guilty to eight counts of grooming children aged under 16, eight of using electronic communication to procure children, one of using a carriage service to transmit child exploitation material and one of using a carriage service to access child exploitation material.

Cox, from Mount Morgan, also sent adult and child porn to his victims, discussing what was in the videos and telling the children how to do the things as good as or better than the people in the videos.

He told the undercover police officer he was a “dirty old man” and tried to arrange to meet up, saying he would book a motel room and for her (thinking she was a child) to tell her parents she was going away for a while.

Ms Lawrence said he communicated with one child for three months.

A report prepared for the court stated Cox told the writer he was unsure why he committed the offences, saying it may have because he was bored and blamed his relapse on his wife after their relationship deteriorated and denied he had been aroused by his own children.

The court heard he was now estranged from his family.

“He told (the report writer) he didn’t know if he could control his urges outside the prison environment,” Ms Lawrence said.

“He did not express any remorse.”

She said the report also highlighted that Cox met the psychological criteria in the DSM-5 for paedophilic disorder with a moderate risk of reoffending.

“There is a need to protect the community from him,” Ms Lawrence said.

She said Cox “plainly knew the consequences” of his offending, having told the children he wouldn’t give them a photograph of himself with his head in it because “he was scared of the cops”.

Ms Lawrence said Cox carried out “deplorable conduct” for which he had done nothing to address and he did nothing about the children.

Defence barrister Sheridan Shaw said Cox would have to complete courses in prison for sex offenders before he could apply for bail.

She said the courses were offered less often due to Covid.

Judge Jeff Clarke said Cox claimed treatment didn’t work last time.

Ms Shaw said her client had been unable to access psychological counselling while being held on remand and it could be part of the sentence in the form of an order that Cox undergo the counselling.

Judge Clarke sentenced Cox to three years prison to be suspended after serving 15 months with a five-year operational period and declared 433 days presentence.

He also placed Cox on a recognisance release order to be of good behaviour for five years with a recognisance of $1000.

Cox was also placed on a two-year probation order, with the condition of undergoing psychological treatment as directed, to start when he is released from prison.

The criteria for a diagnosis in the DSM-5 for paedophilic disorder are:

• Recurrent, intense sexually arousing fantasies, urges, or behaviours involving a pre-pubescent child or children (usually under 13 years of age) have been present for six months or more.
• The person has acted on the urges or is greatly distressed or impaired by the urges and fantasies. The experience of distress about these urges or behaviours is not a requirement for the diagnosis.
• The person is 16 years or older and at least five years older than the child who is the target of the fantasies or behaviours (but excluding an older adolescent who is in an ongoing relationship with a 12- or 13-year-old).

Originally published as Maurice James Cox, 66, groomed six children online – four who were already being sexually abused