A Coffs Harbour man has been charged after allegedly grooming a 15-year-old girl and threatening her in an attempt to force her to send videos of herself performing sexual and self-harm acts.
The 28-year-old man is alleged to have met the teenage girl online, groomed and threatened her in an attempt to force her to send him footage of herself doing “various compromising acts”, according to a New South Wales police statement.
The man allegedly connected with the child in October 2023, and over the following nine months had conversations with her on a number of different platforms, Det Supt Jayne Doherty, commander of the NSW sex crimes squad, said at a press conference.
Communication included playing games with the child for up to six hours a day, and purchasing game cards “to keep her engaged”.
During that time, police allege the man coerced the child to commit acts of self harm and sexual acts “for his own sexual gratification”, Doherty said.
Police will allege he threatened to abduct, rape and kill the child in online conversations, Doherty said. The child reached out to Kids Helpline.
The man was arrested by detectives at about 7.35am on Wednesday at an address in Safety Beach, 30km north of Coffs Harbour.
Police seized electronic devices during a search of the property, which will undergo forensic examination.
The man was charged with “using a carriage service to engage in sexual activity with a child, to do/plan harm to person under 16 years, to groom under 16 years for sex, to threaten to kill, to threaten to serious harm, to send indecent material to person under 16 years, and to cause child sexual activity”, the NSW police statement said.
He was refused bail and appeared in Coffs Harbour local court the same day.
The charge comes after an NSW sex crimes squad investigation into alleged sadistic sextortion commenced in August 2024 after a referral from Queensland police.
The Australian federal police warned parents and guardians of the dangers of sadistic sextortion in September, claiming that children as young as 12 are being coerced into producing extreme content, from sex acts to self harm, over the internet at a rising rate.
“Sadistic sextortion is unlike typical cases of sextortion because the offender is not doing it for financial gain, rather victims are being coerced into producing extreme sexual and violent content,” Doherty said in a statement.
“We want children to know there is always someone who will listen, and there are things we can do to get you out of any situation, no matter how frightening it is or what the offender is telling you.”
