Jade Douglas Bingley, 39, of Tatura, pleaded guilty in the Melbourne County Court to using a carriage service to solicit child abuse material, and using a carriage service to access child abuse material.
The court heard Bingley, who was 38 years old at the time, had pretended to be a 15-year-old named Josh from Tatura to communicate with two girls on Snapchat, who were 13 and nine years old.
The court heard Bingley and the 13-year-old victim messaged on Snapchat on October 6 and 7, 2024.
She became uncomfortable and stopped replying after Bingley asked her multiple times if she’d like to send or receive inappropriate pictures.
He begged the victim to send them and became upset when she didn’t comply.
The court heard the nine-year-old victim sent him a photo and video of herself on Snapchat, which he saved on October 7, 2024.
The video was evaluated as category one, or the worst under the Interpol Baseline Scale, and the image was evaluated as category two.
Police found the child abuse material on Bingley’s Snapchat account on his phone.
The court heard Bingley had previously been convicted of two child sexual abuse offences in Tasmania, where he inappropriately touched a 12-year-old girl when he was alcohol-affected.
In sentencing Bingley, Judge Justin Lewis said he showed “considerable persistence” in his request for images, and his “cloak of anonymity” made the offending difficult to detect.
He said the offending would’ve caused distress to each victim, with whom he had significant age differences.
Judge Lewis noted Bingley’s ongoing symptoms of depression and anxiety, and acknowledged his co-operation with police and early plea of guilty.
Bingley was sentenced to four years in prison.
He will have to serve two years and three months before becoming eligible for parole, and the 365 days he had spent in custody will count as time already served.
He must comply with sex offender reporting obligations for the rest of his life.
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