'Predatory' sports star procured girl for sex, solicited child abuse material

He has also pleaded guilty to charges of possessing child abuse material and transmitting indecent material to a fifth girl.

The 34-year-old, whose name is purportedly the subject of a non-publication order, appeared in the ACT Supreme Court for sentencing on Friday afternoon.

Agreed facts, tendered to the court, show he committed his crimes over the course of nearly four years, starting in mid-2016.

He communicated regularly with his first victim via Snapchat, requesting nude images and telling her she would send them "if you really care for me".

She ultimately did and, from time to time, the offender would direct her to take certain types of photographs for him.

When the offender was arrested in May 2020, police found 43 images of this girl that were assessed as meeting the definition of child abuse material.

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His mobile phone was also found to contain four child abuse material images of the second victim, whom the offender met through his involvement in sport.

The man committed the procuring offence in December 2019, when a 15-year-old girl asked him via Instagram if he could give her alcohol.

He replied that he would do so in exchange for "proper pics", requesting "boobs at least".

The offender later proposed that the girl perform oral sex on him when he dropped off the alcohol.

He did provide the alcohol, but the agreed facts do not suggest the planned sexual act was carried out.

The third offence of soliciting child abuse material occurred in similar circumstances in January 2020, when he agreed to buy another girl alcohol in exchange for photos.

When she refused to provide any, the man accessed her private Instagram account and took photos of pictures she had posted.

At the time of his arrest, eight files of child abuse material relating to the girl were found in a secret folder on the offender's phone.

The transmission of indecent material offence involved the man having sexualised conversations with yet another underage girl in early 2020.

On Friday, prosecutor Patricia McEniery described the offender's conduct as "predatory".

She told the court the man had not shown genuine remorse, with expressions of regret focused on the impact of being charged on his own life and sporting career.

The offender's barrister, Stephen Robinson, argued for a sentence involving only a brief period in custody, saying the man's crimes were not the most serious of their kind.

He also raised issues of childhood disadvantage, saying the offender had "raised himself".

Chief Justice Lucy McCallum indicated she would impose a sentence next Monday.

The offender has previously been identified by multiple media outlets, which reported his name had been removed from a non-publication order made by the ACT Magistrates Court.

However, the Supreme Court advised journalists on Friday that the order was still in force.

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