A Queensland man who groomed and raped an 11-year-old girl has been given probation after serving almost nine months in pre-sentence custody.
Kurt Robert Bush, 20, of the Moreton Bay region, faced Brisbane District Court on Monday after pleading guilty to grooming the girl by sending her explicit videos and messages via Snapchat and two counts of rape.
The court heard Bush befriended the girl on camping trips with her family and they started exchanging messages from January 2022.
The crown prosecutor said Bush told the girl they should "date in secret" and later sent her videos of himself engaged in lewd acts.
Bush twice raped the girl while he was staying the night at her family's home in April last year.
"These were invasive acts committed in a deliberate way with secrecy and manipulation. This was serious offending," the prosecutor said.
The girl's victim impact statement, read to the court by the prosecutor, said she now had a harder time trusting people and had self-harmed.
"Kurt's actions have impacted my life severely. He has made my life a lot harder in a lot of different ways. He has made my life depressing, by making my family suffer as much as they have," the girl stated.
"Sometimes I feel like it was all my fault and I hold a lot of feelings of guilt. I feel like everyone would be better off without me."
Bush's barrister Michael Anderson said his client was willing to undertake any treatment recommended, had good prospects of rehabilitation and a low risk of reoffending.
"He has support in the community, he will live with (a family member) upon release who is aware of his offending and the need for him to continue treatment," Mr Anderson said.
Judge Nicole Kefford said Bush had been given chances to pause and reflect during his offending, including when the girl told him it would not be a good idea to exchange explicit videos, but he chose to keep going.
"You took advantage of a vulnerable child for your own sexual gratification. That is appalling conduct and the community will not tolerate it," Judge Kefford said.
"The victim impact statement was really quite upsetting with the child blaming themselves. They are innocent and have nothing to be ashamed of. You have taken that innocence."
Judge Kefford said Bush telling the child to keep their interactions secret was a sign he knew what he was doing was wrong.
The judge ordered Bush to complete treatment recommended by Corrective Services, noting a psychological report stated his offending was influenced by emotional and sexual immaturity rather than attraction to children.
Bush was sentenced to three years imprisonment for the rape charges, suspended in light of his 263 days already spent in custody, and he was released on a three-year probation order for the grooming charge.
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