A 22 year-old Morwell man who pleaded guilty to eight sexual offence charges involving five teenage girls used his friends to help him contact the victims via Facebook, a court has heard.
Xavier Christian Croft-Smith appeared in the Latrobe Valley County Court on Monday after pleading guilty in July to persistently abusing a child under the age of 16 between March 2010 and July 2011.
He also pleaded guilty to seven charges of sexual penetration of four different girls between August 2011 and August 2012.
The court heard the girls ranged from 13 to 15 years at the time of the offences and Croft-Smith knew they were underage when he pursued a sexual relationship with them. He communicated with some of the girls via text message and Facebook and in arranging to meet up with them, had friends write messages for him because he was illiterate, the court heard.
Four victim impact statements were presented to the court.
The court heard Croft-Smith had an intellectual disability, suffered from a major depressive disorder and was at times suicidal.
Defence barrister Shivani Pillai said Croft-Smith had been tormented while in prison and bashed three to four times by groups of men. She argued imprisonment would have a significant impact on Croft-Smith’s mental health.
Ms Pillai said Croft-Smith was “fully aware of the seriousness of his offending” and had “expressed his disgust” as he attempted to come to terms with his own behaviour.
She asked judge John Carmody to take into account Croft-Smith’s disability, depressive disorder and more than a year already spent in pre-sentence detention.
Prosecutor Kevin Doyle told the court Croft-Smith was interviewed by police in relation to one of the victims in 2011, but had continued to offend.
“He was interviewed about it. He’s got to know it’s wrong, even with a disability,” Mr Doyle said.
Croft-Smith was supported in court by his mother, stepfather and family friends. He is due to return to the Latrobe Valley County Court on Monday for sentencing.
