Man, 19, pleads guilty to child sex abuse charge in Tamworth court

The 19-year-old man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his victim, fronted Tamworth Local Court when he pleaded guilty to the charge.

The court heard one charge of possessing child abuse material would also be taken into account in sentencing.

Court documents reveal the man and his victim met through friends of friends, and had hung out in person, and chatted online before forming a relationship.

The girl was 14 years old at the time of the offending.

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Shortly after they met, the man started sending the girl gifts to her house and school, and asked her to send him "images of a sexual nature", the agreed facts state.

During the following months, the offender and the girl exchanged a number of explicit videos and photos.

The facts state there were several occasions where, at the request of the offender, the girl filmed explicit videos of herself and sent them to him on Snapchat, which he then saved to his phone.

On May 16, 2023, a relative of the victim became aware of the explicit images and photos after she walked past the girl's bedroom and heard her saying "no, no I don't want to" while she was naked, and on a video call with the offender.

The relative scrolled through the phone and found a number of videos and photos that had been exchanged between the offender and the girl.

Police were alerted and officers attended the home, seized the phone, and found more than 50 explicit videos and images.

On May 19, investigators went to the home of the offender and executed a search warrant.

The offender told police the girl had told him she was 15 turning 16, and he had removed the girl from Snapchat after being served with an order prohibiting contact.

He told police he wasn't trying to hide anything by removing her, but he did it so they couldn't talk anymore.

Officers searched the man's phone and found two explicit videos in his trash folder.

He was arrested and charged with procuring a child for unlawful sexual activity; and possessing child abuse material between November 2022 and May 2023.

The unlawful sexual activity charge carries a maximum penalty of 12 years behind bars.

The 19-year-old had previously pleaded guilty to one charge of knowingly contravening an apprehended violence order (AVO).

Following the guilty plea in court, magistrate Julie Soars ordered a sentencing assessment report to be prepared into the background of the offender.

The man will return to court for sentencing in December.

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