A Wurtulla man who used online chat rooms to proposition children to engage in sexual acts on the internet has been sentenced to two years imprisonment, to be suspended after serving three months in jail, but the sentence being conditional on him not re-offending for a period of three years.
Steven Woods pleaded guilty in the Maroochydore District Court today to 18 offences.
Between 23 May and 25 August 2005, Woods used internet chat rooms to proposition three 13-year-old girls.
What he did not know was that the ‘girls’ he propositioned were actually undercover police officers from the Crime and Misconduct Commission, who were posing as children.
The 51-year-old man groomed the ‘girls’ during 11 separate internet chat room conversations. He used elaborate methods to desensitise them to sexually explicit material and propositioned them to engage in sexual acts.
Head of the CMC’s criminal paedophilia investigations Detective Inspector Sue Dawson says Woods is one of the worst offenders the team has encountered.
‘The fact that Woods sought to engage three girls over three months shows how persistent and desperate he was to contact a child.
‘While in this case he happened to contact three undercover CMC officers instead, there remains the potential for others like him to hurt real children,’ Detective Inspector Dawson said.
‘This case shows how child sex offenders are using the internet to commit serious crimes and maintain anonymity.’
‘The CMC will continue to monitor the internet to track and catch these paedophiles.’
ENDS
