Kirk MacKay: Launceston man jailed for preying on girls online

A “predatory” Tasmanian man coerced two young girls into sending him hundreds of exploitative images on Snapchat.

A depraved Tasmanian man solicited two pre-pubescent girls via social media application Snapchat, coercing them with threats to send through hundreds of exploitative images.

In the most disgraceful act by Newnham man Kirk Russell MacKay, 27, he made one of the girls, aged 11 or 12 at the time, write his name in black marker on her groin area.

MacKay previously pleaded guilty to two counts of involving a child in making child exploitation material and one charge of possessing child exploitation material, with Chief Justice Robert Pearce handing down the defendant’s sentence in Launceston Supreme Court on Friday.

The court heard MacKay’s offending was committed against 11-year-old girl ‘J’ in August 2020, while that involving 11- or 12-year-old girl ‘S’ occurred at some point prior to January 31 last year.

MacKay, using an anonymous account, added ‘J’ on Snapchat on August 5, 2020 and the pair began speaking.

She was “coy” about her age and MacKay said he “guessed she was 14”, Justice Pearce said.

The conversation took a dark turn when MacKay threatened the girl and her family, telling her he knew where she lived.

It commenced a month of hell for the girl, who was made to send a series of exploitative images – “too many to count”, in her words, relayed to the court by Justice Pearce.

After a brief interregnum, later in August MacKay asked for another trove of images, threatening to publish the existing material – he made her send images depicting her face – if she did not comply.

At this point, the girl sought assistance from her older sister and the pair turned the table on MacKay, as they made a detailed log of the pair’s communications and – crucially – convinced MacKay to send a picture of himself, the court heard.

Police executed a search warrant on June 1 last year and analysis of MacKay’s phone revealed his offending against the second girl ‘S’.

This included 108 images in total, 50 of which were considered child exploitation material, one of which included an image of the victim’s “body between her navel and thigh with (MacKay’s) name written across her groin in black marker”.

Justice Pearce told the court it was only the “resourcefulness and quick thinking” of J and her older sister that MacKay was caught.

He said the offending was “insidious (and) predatory”.

The court heard heartbreaking details of the ongoing effects of the offending on the two victims, who are now 14: both refuse to speak to the parents about their experiences, J no longer attends school while S has fled home.

MacKay, who had a lengthy criminal history including offences of dishonesty, violence, driving and breach of court orders, although no previous offending against children, was subject to suspended sentences and probation at the commission of the current offences.

The defendant was remanded in custody on Wednesday.

Justice Pearce sentenced MacKay to two years and nine months’ imprisonment.

He will be eligible for parole after serving 21 months of his sentence.