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, ...