By Alesha Capone
A man who spent a month living with a missing teenage girl at a Werribee boarding house has pleaded guilty to one charge of sexually penetrating a child.
Michael Livori, 52, was sentenced to three years and six months imprisonment, with a non-parole period of two years and six months, in the County Court last month.
Livori, also pleaded guilty to 23 charges in relation to breaching of an interim personal safety intervention order.
The court heard that Livori met the 15-year-old girl, who later lived with him, through her ex-boyfriend. At the time, the girl was living in a residential care facility overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services.
In December 2017, the girl moved into Livori’s room at a Werribee boarding house.
County Court Judge James Parrish said the girl was listed as a “missing person” from December 1, 2017 until January 2, 2018, when she was “picked up” by police.
Judge Parrish said that in January last year, the girl told a foster carer she was “kept” in Livori’s room for a month, without any of the other men living in the boarding house knowing of her presence.
“The complainant also stated that you forced her to give you oral sex and that you supplied her with drugs and food,” Judge Parrish said.
The court heard that the charge of sexually penetrating a child, which Livori pleaded guilty to, occurred on January 2 last year.
The court also heard Livori had a history of alcohol, cannabis and methamphetamine use, and had lived in Truganina until his house was sold, with “the proceeds being quickly dissipated through escalating amounts of alcohol and methamphetamine use”.
In sentencing, Judge Parrish said sexual penetration of a child under the age of 16 years was “a serious offence”.
The 452 days of pre-sentence detention Livori has already served will be deducted from his overall sentence.
