A man who sexually abused a 14-year-old girl after contacting her via social media was brought to justice after "very clever detective work" by a family member of the girl, the Supreme Court in Launceston heard.
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Former Tasmanian man Justin Fitzroy Adcock, 48, now of Queensland, pleaded guilty to two counts of penetrative sexual abuse of a child in July 2018.
Crown prosecutor John Ransom told the court that Adcock contacted the girl via a social messaging service Kik.
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He asked if she would like to meet and she invited him to an address where she was staying.
Adcock remarked that she was nearly the same age as his daughter.
They went into a bedroom and he lifted her onto a bed and began kissing her before removing his trousers and underwear.
He inserted a finger in her vagina for about three minutes and then moved his body nearer to her head and placed his penis in her mouth.
She estimated the second act lasted nearly twenty minutes.
When a knock sounded on the door Adcock slipped out the back door.
Adcock tried to contact the girl again but she blocked him.
The girl's mother accessed the girl's social media accounts and sent messages, purporting to be the girl, to 15 people.
Two men responded including Mr Adcock. She ascertained they had been involved in sexual activity and asked the accused to send a photograph of his face which she posted on Facebook appealing for clues to his identity.
He was successfully identified and the mother reported the matter to police.
The court also heard that she contacted Adcock's workplace and he was asked to resign and returned to Queensland.
Defence counsel Todd Kovacic said that because Adcock was from Queensland he believed the age of consent was 16 years old. He said the girl told him she was 16. Age of consent in Tasmania is 17 years.
"His was a mistake of the law ... both acts were consensual," he said.
Chief Justice Alan Blow said there was an age discrepancy of 30 years which meant the only appropriate penalty was a sentence of imprisonment.
"The family member through very clever detective work found out what you had done and who you were and reported it to police," he said.
He said authorities had been slow to act after being told of the offence in November 2018.
"It was not until six months later that police spoke to the complainant and it was not until March 2020 that you were charged-sixteen months after the complaint was made," Chief Justice Blow said.
He sentenced Adcock to twelve weeks jail but suspended nine weeks of it on the condition that he be of good behaviour for two years from release.
He placed his name on the sex offender register for five years.
Chief Justice Blow said it was a relevant sentencing factor that Adcock lost his marriage and two jobs over the incidents.
Nick Clark
I am the Supreme and Magistrates Court reporter for the Examiner for the past 18 months. My journalism career has clicked over 30 years and encompasses four different spells at Tasmanian newspapers.
I am the Supreme and Magistrates Court reporter for the Examiner for the past 18 months. My journalism career has clicked over 30 years and encompasses four different spells at Tasmanian newspapers.
