By Benjamin Millar
A Maribyrnong man has been jailed after sending sexual messages to a 12-year-old boy on social media and arranging to meet what he thought was a 14-year-old boy, but who turned out to be an undercover police officer.
David Botting, 31, pleaded guilty in the County Court to one charge of transmitting indecent communications to a person under 16 years of age and one charge of using a carriage service to procure a person believed to be under 16 years of age for sexual activity.
The court heard the events took place between January and April last year.
Botting used Instagram to send indecent communications to a 12-year-old boy, later using Facebook to communicate with and arrange to meet a boy he believed to be 14 years of age for sex.
The court heard Botting engaged the 12-year-old boy in a private conversation on Instagram by sending him a direct message, later making sexual comments and asking the boy about his sexual interests.
He began offering gifts and asking personal questions of an increasingly sexual nature. In March, the boy’s mother discovered the conversations and reported the matter to police.
A police officer then posed as a 14-year-old boy on Facebook, sending Botting a friend request. Botting asked to Skype with the boy, but the officer instead sent two photos of a boy aged about 14 years of age.
The court heard that while the conversations began as a general discussion, they soon became sexualised and escalated.
Botting asked the officer to meet with him, saying he should not tell his parents. They arranged to meet at Hawthorn McDonald’s, where Botting was arrested.
When interviewed by police, Botting said he was “90 per cent sure” the Facebook account was an older person pretending to be 14 years of age.
County Court Judge Sue Pullen said while Botting’s guilty pleas indicated some remorse, there remained a level of denial.
Botting was last month convicted and sentenced to 24 months’ imprisonment, with a non-parole period of nine months.
