STATE OF TASMANIA v JAMIE WAYNE CARVER 2 AUGUST 2022
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE BLOW CJ
Mr Carver has pleaded guilty to three charges of grooming with the intention to expose a child or young person to indecent material, and to a charge of distributing child exploitation material.
As a result of information received from the Australian Federal Police, Tasmanian police officers conducted a search of Mr Carver’s home in December of 2021. They discovered that he had been using an Instagram account to chat with girls who said that they were in their early teens.
On 3 December 2021 he committed the crime of grooming by sending messages to a girl who said that she was 14 years old. He had previously communicated with her using Snapchat, but the police were unable to retrieve the Snapchat communications. On Instagram he asked her whether she liked girls too. He stated that he preferred girls too, “especially little hotties with small boobies”. The girl asked him whether he jerked off at work, and he replied that he did. She asked him for pictures. He made some flattering comments about her appearance, told her “I’ll jerk it for you” and sent her an image of his erect penis being held in his hand.
The second grooming charge relates to Instagram communications with another girl on 5 and 6 December 2021. She told him that she lived in the USA and was aged 16. He sent a message saying “Mmmm yummy” accompanied by an image of his crotch. He was wearing shorts. They exchanged messages about the girl sucking his penis. He sent a message to the effect that he was masturbating at work thinking about the girl, followed by an image depicting his erect penis being held in his hand.
The third grooming charge relates to a series of Instagram communications in March 2021, with a girl who said she was aged 16 and in the USA. He sent her an image depicting his erect penis being held in his hand. He sent this girl messages about wanting to see her nipples, wanting to “fuck his sexy little girl”, wanting her to sit on his face, wanting to lick her anus, possibly masturbating, having an erection, imagining her tongue on his penis, and so forth. On 17 March 2021 their conversation continued over hours. On 28 March he sent her another image depicting his penis.
The distribution charge relates to a crime committed on 9 May 2021 when Mr Carver sent a video depicting child exploitation material to someone identified as “ilovecuming_”. The video was 26 seconds long. It depicted a pre-pubescent girl holding a camera aimed at herself. She was wearing only a singlet. Her vagina was exposed. She rubbed it with her fingers.
Mr Carver is now 45 years old. He has no significant prior convictions. He was very co-operative with the police, and made full admissions when interviewed. He pleaded guilty to these charges when he first appeared on each of them in the Magistrates Court.
Mr Carver has been married for about 13 years. He and his wife have a young son. They have separated as a result of this offending. Mr Carver has made arrangements to have a significant amount of contact with his son. He has been in full-time employment ever since completing his education at the age of 18. In late 2020 he unexpectedly began experiencing feelings of unhappiness. He became withdrawn and commenced drinking to excess. He began using on-line apps to communicate with other people. He developed an interest in communicating with teenage girls. He had no intention of meeting any of the people that he communicated with about sexual matters. He does not have an explanation for his conduct. His counsel told me that he has been unable to bring himself to seek professional help.
He is now living with his parents. I formed the view that it might be appropriate for him to be sentenced to home detention, with some community service. I obtained an assessment report in relation to those possibilities. The probation officer who wrote that report has reported that Mr Carver did not think about the impact of his conduct on the victims he chatted on line with, but that was he was conscious of the impact on his family and genuinely remorseful as a result.
These are significant crimes. The possible impact on the teenage girls that he chatted with online is very serious. They could end up being very disturbed individuals, now and in later life, as a result of this sort of exposure to inappropriate sexual ideas. It is not clear who he sent the child exploitation material to in May of last year. One of the dangers in sending material to people whose mental state is unknown is that they might be encouraged to commit all sorts of dreadful sexual crimes. So because of the impact, or potential impact, on the girls chatted with, and people that the recipient of the child exploitation material might have interacted with, it is appropriate that these crimes be dealt with very seriously.
In the circumstances, I would have sent Mr Carver to prison if he had not been considered suitable for home detention. I will make a home detention order with a community correction order that requires some community service and makes provision for a probation officer to compel him to seek professional help. He has been assessed as having a low risk of re-offending. It has not been said that there is no risk of him re-offending and I will, therefore, have to place him on the sexual offenders register, but I will not place him on that register for many years.
Jamie Wayne Carver, I convict you and I make a home detention order for an operational period of six months from today. That order will include conditions, all of which will apply for the operational period of six months, as follows:
- You must not commit an offence that is punishable by imprisonment.
- You must reside at [address withheld]
- You must be there at all times, except when you are not there for a relevant reason, as specified in s 42AD(4) of the Sentencing Act That includes going somewhere with your probation officer’s permission.
- You must permit a police officer, probation officer or prescribed officer to enter those premises.
- You must permit a police officer to conduct a search of those premises; to conduct a frisk search of you and to take a sample of any substance found on the premises or on your person.
- You must submit to electronic monitoring, which may include wearing or carrying an electronic device.
- You must not remove, tamper with, damage, disable or interfere with the proper functioning of any electronic device or equipment used for the purpose of electronic monitoring.
- You must not allow anyone else to remove, tamper with, damage, disable or interfere with the proper functioning of any electronic device or equipment used for the purpose of electronic monitoring.
- You must comply with all reasonable and lawful directions given to you in relation to the electronic monitoring, including directions relating to the installation, attachment or operation of a device or a system used for the purpose of electronic monitoring, if those directions are given to you by a police officer, a probation officer, a prescribed officer or any other person whose function involves installation or operation of a device or system used for the purposes of electronic monitoring.
- You must maintain in operating condition an active mobile phone service, provide the contact details to Community Corrections, and be accessible for contact through that device at all times.
- You must not, during the operational period of the order, take any illicit or prohibited substances. Those substances include any controlled drug, as defined in the Misuse of Drugs Act 2001, and any medication containing an opiate, benzodiazepine, bupropion hydrochloride or pseudoephedrine unless you provide written evidence from your medical professional that you have been prescribed the relevant medication.
- You must not consume any alcohol.
- You must, if directed to do so by a police officer or a Community Corrections officer, submit to a breath test, a urine test, or other test for the presence of alcohol and/or drugs.
- You must attend the Community Corrections Office at 114 Bathurst Street, Hobart no later than 10am tomorrow for induction into this order.
I make a community correction order, to operate for 12 months, with conditions that during that period:
- You must submit to the supervision of a probation officer, as required by that officer.
- You must satisfactorily perform and complete 50 hours of community service, as directed by a probation officer or a supervisor.
- You must submit to psychological or psychiatric assessment or treatment, as directed by a Probation Officer.
I order that the registrar appointed under s 42 of the Community Protection (Offender Reporting) Act 2005, place your name on the register under that Act and that you comply with the reporting obligations under that Act for five years.