Aussie man tried offering PlayStation to lure boy for sex

Otago Daily Times

5 days ago

A former boat skipper has been jailed for trying to meet up with a 13-year-old boy to have sex after offering him a PlayStation device in exchange.
Luke Edward Reynolds, 29, pleaded guilty in Brisbane District Court on Friday to seven offences relating to the indecent treatment and use of electronic communications to procure a child under 16.
Reynolds started speaking to a 13-year-old boy on an online chat platform before moving to Snapchat to have "exclusively sexually explicit" conversations in April 2024.
He sent multiple photos of his erect penis to the child and an animated image of two men having sex, asking the boy "should we try this?", crown prosecutor Isabelle MacNicol told the court.
He offered the boy a PlayStation device in exchange for sex.
Reynolds discussed with the boy to meet in person to have sex and whether other males could join in.
He also sent the boy a photo of a blue cooler bag that contained lubricant, condoms and anal cream.
Reynolds arranged to meet with the boy outside Cannon Hill's YMCA in Brisbane's south and brought the cooler bag to the meeting.
The boy became nervous during the meeting and decided not to go ahead with the sexual activities that had been discussed, leaving on his push bike.
When the child returned home, his parents became suspicious and took his phone to discover the raft of messages and reported it to the police.
Reynolds continued to message the boy, asking to meet up again and sent more explicit photos, but this time it was a police officer behind the screen.
After four days, he arranged with an officer purporting to be the child to meet at the same YMCA where police swooped to arrest Reynolds.
He was again holding the cooler bag with the same items inside and was found to have images of naked children on his phone by officers.
Reynolds admitted during a police interview that he knew the boy was under 16, even suspecting he was younger than 13, and intended to have sex with him.
"The offending is characterised as persistent, predatory and premeditated," Ms MacNicol said.
Defence barrister Patrick Wilson argued that Reynolds was remorseful and had suffered as a result of his offending, losing his job as a ferry driver for a resort.
A psychologist's report detailed that Reynolds was a loner as a child and had never had a relationship or sexual contact, Mr Wilson told the court.
It also disputed that Reynolds was a pedophile; instead, Mr Wilson argued the offending was a product of a "sexually naive person".
Judge Brad Farr called Reynolds' crimes "demonstrably serious" and "vile" given that he knew at all times the boy was under 16.
"The evidence of the fact you were willing to pursue in sexual activity with a child by arriving at the pre-arranged location on two separate occasions and bringing with you paraphernalia designed to achieve that purpose, all of which aggravates the seriousness of the offending," he said.
Reynolds was sentenced to two years' imprisonment and will serve six months before being released on probation.
"It was protracted, even after the child exhibited concern about following through with what had been discussed and perhaps even fear," Judge Farr said.
"You persisted to encourage him to do so, you placed your own sexual gratification to the forefront with little, if any, thought to the potential harm to the complainant."