Vigilant parents of underage girls contacted by a Wendouree paedophile were able to put a swift end to their children's contact with the man, a court has heard.
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Former St Patrick's College student, Kane Cameron-Kiely, 24, was put on the sex offender registry in September 2020 for sending sexually explicit messages to a 13-year-old girl in 2017.
Days after being placed on the register, he messaged a 12-year-old girl on social media app Instagram: "You are pretty cute just saying."
The accused has a mild intellectual disability and an IQ of 67.
The message was the first of numerous communications Cameron-Kiely would send to six underage girls, from 11 to 15-years-old, across the following months through to March 11, 2021.
In the County Court of Victoria on Tuesday, Judge Michael Tinney said the then 21-year-old accused wanted to "cut other adults out of the equation".
"You were grooming these young girls and out of luck these parents were alerted to the conversations," he told the accused.
"If not, what next?"
Cameron-Kiely's contact included messages to sisters, aged 11 and 12, asking the younger girl to meet at Wendouree McDonald's.
"You said you wanted to give her a present," Judge Tinney told the accused.
"What was that present? Well, it was a picture of your penis.
"You asked her for pictures of herself.
"Thankfully her parents were on the ball. Thankfully you did not meet."
The court heard Cameron-Kiely's deviant attraction to underage girls stemmed from viewing them as non-threatening and judgmental.
Judge Tinney also noted an "oddness" to the accused's tone in communications with the girls which showed "a complete lack of understanding" of how personal relationships worked.
Defence counsel Jonathan Barreiro argued community protection would be best achieved through Cameron-Kiely's rehabilitation, which he said would be hindered by a term in prison.
The accused has not reoffended since engaging in treatment under the corrections order issued in 2020. However, he did not disclose his escalated offending at the start of the order with any treatment providers.
The court also heard the 24-year-old would be particularly vulnerable in custody because of his disability, personality, mental health diagnoses, and medical needs.
Judge Tinney said sentencing Cameron-Kiely was "exquisitely difficult," asking the Crown prosecutor Michelle Zammit amid lengthy plea submissions: "What are the impacts of sending someone like this ... to adult custody?"
"He would be categorised," she replied.
"It simply wouldn't be a case where Mr Cameron-Kiely would be put in general population. He would be assessed.
"Prison will be difficult for Mr Cameron-Kiely in any event ... but also his vulnerabilities would be taken into account."
The judge replied: "I'm confident they would be. Both by the authorities, and, other prisoners."
The Wendouree man pleaded guilty in February to charges of failing to comply with sex offender reporting obligations and grooming a child under 16.
Ultimately, he was sentenced to a two and a half year community corrections order with a requirement to complete 375 hours of unpaid work.
Time spent in treatment under the order can be counted towards his required unpaid work hours
"You must not use Instagram, Whatsapp, TikTok or any social media platform or the internet to communicate with or attempt to communicate with any person under 18 years of age," the judge told Cameron-Kiely.
"Do any of those things, you're in breach of this order."
Judge Tinney told the accused not to expect any further chances.
"If I see you again ... it will end in court and I will send you to prison," he said.
"Let me make it very, very plain.
"You work on the hypothesis that if you breach this order you are very likely to land a substantial amount of time in prison with a non-parole period."
Cameron-Kiely will remain on the sex offender registry for life.
- Affected by this story? Call Lifeline on 13 11 14, or headspace Ballarat (for 12-25s and parent support) on 5304 4777.
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