A NSW man said to have the mental capacity of a child has been spared jail for trying to groom a 13-year-old girl for sex.
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Timothy George Kemp was arrested at Waratah Railway Station in May 2020, two months after he received a Facebook friend request from the girl - in reality an undercover police officer - and struck up a conversation which quickly turned sexual.
In the Newcastle District Court on Wednesday, Kemp's lawyer argued the 37-year-old's offending was caused by his intellectual disability and alcoholism.
"(In) interpersonal relationships, he functions as an eight-and-a-half-year-old ... coping skills, a 12-year-old, written (communication) eight years, one month," she said.
He was isolated - an "outcast" - since he was a child and did not know how to cope in normal society.
"He told you in his affidavit, 'It was nice, it felt good to have someone to talk to'," she said.
Further, his criminal behaviour wasn't characterised by predation and deceit.
He "took the bait" of the undercover operatives, she said.
"He was not actively on the internet, seeking out children by entering chat rooms and striking up conversations."
Kemp has since undergone an alcohol detox and obtained NDIS support that would help him function in the community, she said.
"He's just not the appropriate vehicle to send a message to the community."
However, the Crown contended that a custodial sentence was appropriate.
The "highly graphic sexual" messages sent by the offender do not align with the argument put forward about his mental age, he said.
When handing down his sentence, Judge Tim Gartelmann ruled that Kemp knew what he was doing when he groomed and arranged to meet the fictional girl.
"The offender's communications with the assumed online identity showed he knew what he was doing, or proposing to do was wrong," he said.
"No sentence other than imprisonment would be at a severity appropriate in normal circumstances."
However, due to prison's likely onerous impact and his prospects of rehabilitation, Judge Gartelmann ruled Kemp could serve his term under a recognisance release order - similar to a suspended sentence - in the community.
He sentenced the Maitland man to one year and six months, with a good behaviour bond of two years.
Kemp must pay $1000 and will be supervised by community corrections officers.
His sentence will expire January 25, 2023.
Australian Associated Press
