A 22-year-old woman charged with grooming a 16-year-old boy online and soliciting a nude image from him has walked free without a criminal conviction in a rare Supreme Court ruling.
The woman pleaded guilty to grooming a young person and involving a minor in the production of child exploitation material over a sexual exchange on Instagram in June 2023.
Supreme Court Justice Stephen Estcourt dismissed both charges without recording a conviction – a move he said he had “never” made in 13 years on the bench.
“I am concerned that the defendant is a young woman whose entire future might be very much disproportionally damaged by a single mistake,” Justice Estcourt said in his sentencing comments on March 16.
The court heard the woman connected with the boy on social media in early 2023.
A conversation on Instagram turned graphic, during which she sent a nude photo and asked him to send one in return.
The boy’s mother discovered the exchange and reported it to police.
The woman attended a police station in August 2023 and admitted she knew the boy was 16 and that her actions were wrong.
“It started to get to the sexual side of things,” she told investigators.
Justice Estcourt noted the woman missed the statutory age-gap defence by just one year.
Had she been 21 rather than 22, the law would have provided a complete defence to the grooming charge.
A psychologist’s report attributed her behaviour to ADHD, depression, emerging borderline personality disorder and mild autism spectrum presentation, compounded by a recent relationship breakdown and estrangement from her mother.
Since the offending, she completed a two-year mental health recovery program, secured stable housing and employment, and entered a healthy relationship.
Her lawyer described her as “a remorseful, youthful offender with considerable mental health conditions affecting her presentation and behaviour”.
Justice Estcourt said he regarded the case as “very much at the lower end of the range of seriousness” and applied section 7(h) of the Sentencing Act to dismiss the charges.
