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 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 age was just a number and 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.
He repeatedly told the girl she should hide their relationship from her mother and 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 your 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 he had no intention of having sex with a minor and 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 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 suspended to four months.
He has also been registered as a sex offender.
