A LAVERTON father of three has been jailed after police caught him going to a suburban train station to meet a girl he had groomed online for sex.
Donald Dowdle, 46, had made contact with an undercover police officer posing as a 13-year-old on an internet chat site more than 20 times in three weeks.
Using a pseudonym, Dowdle told ‘Caitlin’ he thought that age was just a number and he asked her to be his girlfriend.
On November 5, the County Court heard that Dowdle requested pictures of the teen and sent sexually explicit messages.
Dowdle repeatedly told the girl that she should hide their relationship from her mother.
He also indicated that he found a girl in a school uniform “sexy”.
Judge Sue Pullen described Dowdle’s behaviour as totally unacceptable.
“You said you had thought sometimes about kissing a 13-year-old and asked if it made you ‘sound like a sicko wanting to kiss a girl that age’.
“The facts in this case, in my opinion, are most serious and disturbing,” she said.
Dowdle was arrested last December when he went to Seaford train station to meet the girl after sending 15 text messages.
During police questioning, he insisted that he had no intention of having sex with a minor and that it was “just a little bit of fun on the computer”.
He was not kept in custody.
Dowdle pleaded guilty to using a carriage service to procure a person under 16 for sexual activity.
Defence lawyer Kristina Kothrakis said Dowdle had had a troubled childhood and suffered from depression.
An expert report stated he did not meet the criteria for being a paedophile but was assessed to be a moderate risk of reoffending.
Dowdle was sentenced to two years’ jail, but had his term reduced to four months.
He has also been registered as a sex offender.
