"Meeting this girl at 7. She's really hot," Jaryn Timosevski messaged a friend in December 2022.
"I think she might be underaged [sic] so I'm gonna have to ask for some ID or something."
Timosevski was 21 at the time. The girl he met on dating app Tinder, and whom he would soon rape multiple times, was in fact only 13-years-old.
"Regrettably, the offender did not act on his suspicions," Acting Justice Michael Elkaim said in the ACT Supreme Court on Tuesday.
But more than just willfully ignorant, Timosevski gave the child cannabis and ignored her concerns about his predatory behaviour.
The now 22-year-old man will spend at least 19 months and 14 days behind bars after admitting to three counts of sexual intercourse with a young person and one of committing an act of indecency on a young person.
He received a head sentence of almost two years and nine months, with Justice Elkaim noting his conduct "must dictate that he spends more time in custody".
Timosevski learned his fate from a remote room in Canberra's jail and while wearing blue gloves - a response to the current COVID outbreak inside the Alexander Maconochie Centre.
'He told her she was 'special''
The man first grew suspicious of the girl's young age when she told him she couldn't meet up during the day, but instead would have to sneak out at night.
He had offered to teach her how to drive and said he would give her free vapes but took no steps to find out her age.
The pair eventually met late one night in a car park. In the car, Timosevski gave the victim a cannabis vape and touched her breasts while she felt "really dizzy".
At Timosevski's home, the victim told the man his sexual touching and kissing felt wrong, "but he told her she was 'special'", before the pair had sex, which the child could not lawfully consent to.
"At some point the victim told the offender to stop but he wasn't really listening until she yelled at which point he stopped," court documents said.
Timosevski sexually assaulted the girl twice more on subsequent days at his home. He gave her a cannabis vape to smoke beforehand on each occasion.
A pre-sentence report author said the offender disagreed with parts of an agreed statement of facts, but said he "felt there was no point disputing".
Predatory
At a sentencing hearing on Monday, prosecutor Morgan Howe described Timosevski's crimes as predatory and involving exploitation of the young girl.
According to Mr Howe, "alarm bells seem to ring fairly early" for the offender about the victim's age.
The prosecutor said it was particularly alarming the child expressed concern that "she thinks what is happening is wrong" but was ignored by Timosevski.
"He's not necessarily listening to her in terms of her vocal or physical cues," Mr Morgan said.
The court also heard Timosevski gave the victim cannabis as a way of "ingratiating himself" with her to "be able to engage in these particular acts and to obtain sexual gratification".
Defence barrister James Maher previously told the court his client didn't have "positive knowledge" of the victim's age but rather was reckless about that fact.
"He clearly had a suspicion or an inkling she was underage," he said, acknowledging the man should have done more to confirm her age.
But Mr Maher pushed back on Timosevski's conduct being categorised as predatory and said his client had not sought to meet a younger girl on Tinder, being a dating app for adults.
"He took advantage of the opportunity he was presented with," the barrister said.
Ultimately, Justice Elkaim found the man's actions, once he did not act on a clear suspicion about the girl's age, could be described as predatory.
"The basic facts themselves require condemnation and appropriate punishment," the judge said.
Timosevski, whose sentence factored in the more than seven months he has spent in custody, will be eligible for parole in July 2025.
- Support is available for those who may be distressed. Phone Lifeline 13 11 14; MensLine 1300 789 978; Kids Helpline 1800 551 800; Bravehearts 1800 272 831; Blue Knot Foundation 1300 657 380.
