A SEX fiend who groomed a teenage boy online has avoided jail.
Piangil man Andrew Gibson, 34, pleaded guilty in the County Court last month to one charge of using a carriage service to groom a person under 16 and to two charges of failing to comply with reporting obligations.
The court was told in January 2022, the victim, then aged 15, received Snapchat messages of a sexual nature from Gibson, including a request to send pictures of his genitalia.
The victim did not know Gibson and had never met or seen him.
“The victim took screenshots of these messages and the accompanying photographs. A red and yellow-striped blanket can be seen in each of the screenshots. The left half of your face can be seen in one of the screenshots,” Judge Trevor Wraight said.
“You asked the victim, ‘How old are you’ and he replied, ‘I’m 15’.
“You then told the victim you were 18 years old. You were in fact 32 years old.”
Gibson was in January 2021 placed on the sex offender register and ordered to report to Victoria Police any chat room usernames and the name of each child with whom he had contact.
The court was told he didn’t report to police the contact with the 15-year-old and the use of a Snapchat username.
Police went to Gibson’s grandmother’s address, where they found a red and yellow-striped blanket identical in pattern and colour to the blanket seen in the Snapchat message.
Judge Wraight said while the offending remained “inherently serious”, there were factors taken into account when assessing the nature and gravity of the specific offence.
“After the victim told you that he was 15, you nonetheless sent the messages which were of a sexual nature,” he said.
“However, when the victim rejected your request to send a ‘penis picture’, you then blocked him and he blocked you.
“Relevantly, the offending was of a short duration (about one hour) and on only one occasion.”
“Ms Ollquist, who appeared on your behalf, submitted that the offending in this instance falls towards the lower end of the scale of offending of this nature.
“I note also that the communication with the victim did not feature some of the more aggravating features of offending of this type, such as the exchange of, or reference to, child exploitation material.
“The communication was limited to one exchange rather than multiple contacts over time where, typically in grooming cases, the seriousness of the communication escalates.”
Lawyers representing the Director of Public Prosecutions accepted Gibson’s actions were towards the low end of the offending scale.
“While charges two and three represent separate offending, and you are not to be doubly punished, the fact that your offending in relation to charge one breached your obligations pursuant to the Sex Offenders Registration Act 2004, elevates the seriousness of your conduct,” Judge Wraight said.
“While it is acknowledged that you suffer from an intellectual disability, you nonetheless were able to articulate the nature of your reporting obligations to the police during your record of interview.
“As such your offending represents a deliberate breach of the reporting conditions, where the primary purpose of the conditions is to protect the community from further offending of the nature of charge one.”
Judge Wraight told the court a “complex psychological and medical profile” must be given “significant weight in the sentencing synthesis”.
Gibson was convicted and sentenced to two years and three months’ imprisonment, with immediate release on giving a $2000 bond to be of good behaviour for three years.
On the two charges of failing to comply with reporting obligations, Gibson was convicted and put on a two-year good behaviour bond.
He will also be required to report for the rest of his life.
