Child-sex crim gets 12-month sentence

A 23-YEAR-OLD man who was intercepted before he travelled to Queensland intending to have sex with an 11-year-old girl has been sentenced to 12 months jail.

James Peter Pevitt, of Prospect Vale, Launceston, pleaded guilty to possession of child exploitation material and communication with a young person under the age of 17 with the intention of procuring that person to engage in unlawful conduct.

Justice Pierre Slicer said Pevitt befriended the girl on Facebook in March this year.

In August, he planned to travel to Queensland with the intention of having sex with the girl.

The court heard he sent the girl an image of his penis.

“It is not appropriate to publish the exchange but, if uninterrupted, a serious crime could have occurred,” he said.

Queensland Police alerted Tasmania Police who searched Pevitt’s home and found evidence of Pevitt’s communications.

In sentencing, Justice Slicer said Pevitt was a classic loner who had few friends and no physical or social relationships.

“He was a predator and, but for police intervention, a crime could have occurred in Queensland,” he said. Pevitt was placed on the sex offenders’ register for five years.

Justice Slicer sentenced him to 12 months jail but suspended six months of the sentence for three years on the condition that he commit no crime punishable by imprisonment.