No jail for multiple child grooming offences

Our client is a 31-year-old retail worker from western Sydney.

Australian Federal Police (AFP) officers executed a search warrant on his home after conducting an undercover operation where they posed as a 13-year-old child. They engaged in conversations with our client of a sexual nature.

Following the execution of the search warrant further conversations were uncovered including a 15-year-old and 16-year-old. There was also evidence of the exchange of photographs which were child abuse material. Our client also made admissions to police at the scene of the search warrant.

Our client was he was charged with multiple child grooming offences and possess child abuse material offences in respect of the images he solicited from the children.

He was also placed him on strict bail conditions which prevented him from accessing the internet for any purpose. This created obvious issues given his employment. We were able to file a bail variation with the court to allow him to access the internet for his employment and to send a receive correspondence with us as his lawyers.

We also immediately referred him to a forensic psychologist specialising in sex offending. By the final sentencing hearing he had engaged in over 12 months of treatment.

Through our negotiations, we were able to reduce the number of offences down to just two grooming offences.

Most significantly, we were able to point to his lengthy and significant steps towards rehabilitation. Our psychologist also provided an opinion that a term of full-time imprisonment would risk undoing the rehabilitation he had achieved. Our client gave evidence in court and was subject to cross-examination in respect of his remorse and his attempts to achieve rehabilitation.

Despite the prosecution strongly arguing that a term of full-time imprisonment must be imposed and highlighting that we needed to show exceptional circumstances, we were able to persuade the Judge at Penrith District Court to impose a lengthy recognizance release order. This meant that our client did not spend any time in custody.

Our client and his family were overjoyed with the result.