Man guilty of sexting child given Working with Children clearance

The first man to be found guilty of offences relating to sexting an underage girl in NSW has had a ban on receiving a Working with Children Check overturned by a tribunal.

The man, who can only be known by the pseudonym GTN, asked a 13-year-old girl for a “hot” and “steamy” photo, which she sent in 2008. The man was 18 years old at the time, and the pair had attended the same high school, socialised and texted frequently.

The photo was discovered by the girl’s father, who contacted police.

GTN was charged with one count of possessing child pornography, which was dismissed, and one count of inciting a person aged under 16 years to commit an act of indecency, which he pleaded guilty to in 2010.

The judge found he wasn’t forceful in his request for the girl’s photo, but “wanted the photographs to be explicit and sexual”, and placed him on a 12-month good behaviour bond without a recorded conviction. The maximum penalty he faced was a two-year jail term.

The man is now 35, married with three children and runs a business with his wife. He sought a WWCC to volunteer at his child’s football club and gain business contracts with schools and other organisations.

However, the Children’s Guardian had deemed GTN to be a “disqualified person” based on his guilty finding and refused him a WWCC clearance.

Questions have been raised about the suitability of the WWCC scheme following a series of childcare workers being charged with child sex abuse offences, including notorious paedophile Ashley Paul Griffith, who pleaded guilty to 307 charges, and Joshua Dale Brown in Melbourne, charged with more than 70 offences.

Earlier this month, the NSW government introduced legislation to ban people who have been refused a WWCC from appealing the decision and will establish an independent early childhood regulator.

In November, GTN applied to the tribunal’s equal opportunity division to challenge that decision.

“Looking back now that my daughter is almost the same age as [the victim] was at the time, I cannot express enough how deeply sorry I am for my actions and the consequences they brought upon others and myself,” he wrote in a letter to the tribunal.

His legal team argued psychological evidence showed he had a low risk of reoffending and had matured in the 17 years since the sexting incident.

The Children’s Guardian opposed the application, arguing the man had failed to articulate any insight into the harm his conduct caused to the victim, and that a reasonable person wouldn’t allow him unsupervised access to their children.

After a two-day hearing in July, tribunal members Alana Starke and Emeritus Professor Phil Foreman ruled in GTN’s favour, ordering the Children’s Guardian to issue him with WWCC clearance.

In their decision, they noted the guilty ruling was “at the lowest end of the scale of seriousness for the offence”, that he didn’t pose a risk to the safety of children, and had no other complaints or charges concerning behaviour towards children since.

“At the time of the offence, the applicant had only just turned 18, and was relatively immature and naive. He is now 35, more mature and has responsibilities as a husband and father,” the tribunal members wrote.

They also found that a reasonable person would allow their child to have unsupervised contact with him, and that the WWCC was in the public interest.

If you or anyone you know needs support, call Lifeline on 13 11 14, Beyond Blue on 1800 512 348, Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800.

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