A St Leonards man was psychologically manipulative and forced young girls to send explicit videos and images of themselves by making threats to tell their families, the Supreme Court in Launceston heard.
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Samuel Darren Connell, 24, was sentenced on Wednesday after pleading guilty last year to 11 counts of involving a person under the age of 18 years in the production of child exploitation material and a count of possession of child exploitation material.
The offences occurred between June 1, 2018, and the February 7, 2020, and involved images and videos.
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In November 2019, police in the US state of Minnesota received a complaint from a 12-year-old girl who had been requested to send nude photos via Snapchat, Instagram and YouTube by a "13-year-old boy [Connell]".
An investigation traced the IP address to Connell's home in St Leonards.
Tasmania Police raided the address and found five electronic devices including a phone, laptop and three hard drives. They found a notebook with the names of a further 10 victims - having been aware of just one victim prior to the search. The five Australian and six US victims were aged between nine and 15 years old.
Connell groomed and used threats to demand videos and nude images from the girls.
He was manipulative and controlling, using threats to disclose previous images to friends, family and schools.
"You enjoyed the control and manipulation of your victims," Justice Robert Pearce said in sentencing.
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He said Connell cruelly took advantage of their vulnerability to demand that his victims send more material.
"Some of their lives were made a misery," he said. Connell forced them to carry out acts that were degrading and humiliating.
He said Connell had replicated the methods he had suffered online when he was a 13-year-old. Justice Pearce said he had an attraction to exposure of the navel.
The court heard that one of his victims sent 24 images of her belly and breasts.
"You learnt sexual dysfunction online," he said.
He said a psychiatrist's report revealed an opinion that Connell had mental conditions that were enduring and that he was at a high risk of reoffending.
Justice Pearce ordered that Connell's name be placed on the sex offender's register for 10 years.
"There is a need for a sentence to protect the public ... this offending is inherently secret and insidious," he said.
"It is the role of the courts to protect the public from online predators."
Justice Pearce said at least six of the victims were under the age of 13.
"The age disparity was significant," he said.
He said that if it was not for Connell's youth and plea of guilty he would have sentenced him to five years jail.
Justice Pearce sentenced him to four years' jail from December 9, 2021, but suspended one year for three years on the condition that he commit no imprisonable offence.
"You are not eligible for parole until you have served two years of that sentence," he said.
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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.
