Man, 28, jailed for having sex with 14-y-o girl

On parole for sex offences at time

A 28-YEAR-OLD man who had sex with an underage girl who he also took a photo of has been jailed for more than two years.

Jack Cecil Sean Cooke was on parole when he and the 14/15-year-old twice engaged in sexual intercourse between December 31, 2019, and March 29, 2020.

The two were known to each other.

Cooke was in October 2016 sentenced to six years in jail for the rape of a 15-year-old girl and he was still on parole for that sentence when he committed unlawful carnal knowledge (UCK) of the 14year-old girl, Toowoomba District Court heard.

Cooke was charged with UCK in March 2020 and had spent the ensuing 772 days in jail though 20 months of that was serving out the six-year sentence, Crown prosecutor Nicole Friedewald said.

Cooke pleaded guilty to two counts of unlawful carnal knowledge and possessing child exploitation material arising from a photograph he had taken of the young girl he had sex with that police had found on his phone.

Judge Katherine McGuinness said there was nothing before the court to say the girl hadn’t consented to the photograph.

His barrister Jessica Goldie told the court her client had spent 161 days in pre-sentence custody which was time served in jail after he completed serving out his previous jail sentence.

His pleas of guilty had saved the girl from having to give evidence, she said.

Cooke had endured a very difficult childhood himself and was kicked out of home at 14, she said.

Upon his release from jail Cooke intended living with a brother in Redbank and looking for work, possibly in vehicle mechanics, Ms Goldie submitted.

Judge McGuinness took into account the time Cooke had spent in custody and sentenced him to two and a half years in jail.

However, declaring the 161 days pre-sentence custody as time served under the sentence, she ordered he be eligible to apply for release on parole immediately.