‘Very selfish’ grandfather in his 20s jailed over sex with teen

A Tasmanian grandfather in his 20s who fled to Queensland after being charged for sex with an underage teen runaway will spend eight months behind bars.

Dale Wayne Williams, who absconded to Queensland, has been jailed for sex with an underage teen runaway.

A 27-YEAR-OLD grandfather has been locked up for eight months over sex with an underage runaway girl that led to “terrible” impacts on her psychological state.

Dale Wayne Williams fled to Queensland after the February 2016 crime — committed without a condom — when he was 23 amid his “terrible disrespect for the law”.

The Supreme Court of Tasmania heard Williams had initially tried to force himself on the 16-year-old girl, who had run away from her mother’s home a few days prior, but he had not been charged with rape.

He was arrested when he returned to Tasmania around the time his fifth child and first grandchild were born, and was later found guilty by a jury of sexual intercourse with a young person under 17.

At the time of the crime, Williams was on bail for dozens of charges relating to driving, drug and dishonesty offences and had subsequently been to prison over those crimes.

“The impact of this on the girl in question was terrible. She has ongoing psychological symptoms,” Chief Justice Alan Blow said during sentencing.

“Obviously it was a very selfish act on your part to take advantage of somebody who was much younger than you, in circumstances where that was against the law.

“It is against the law because young people need to be protected from people like you, and from bad choices about sexual activity until such time as they are more mature.”

Chief Justice Blow said Williams was on a disability support pension, because of Asperger’s syndrome and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

“I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that you did not use a condom or take any precautions to avoid the risk of pregnancy,” he said.

“It was a brazen act.”

Chief Justice Blow made no order as to parole and ordered Williams’s name be added to the sex offenders’ register for 10 years.