'Loner' online predator jailed

AMELIA BENTLEY
February 22, 2010 - 4:54PM

A Bond University student described as a loner addicted to computers has been jailed for trying to procure sex from a social network user he believed to be a 13-year-old girl.

Today Brisbane Supreme Court was told Gold Coast man Ryan Peter Charles Barwick, 24, sent naked photos and graphic videos of himself to the Netlog profile of `Suzie', who revealed on her profile she was a grade eight student.

Barwick's communication, between October 2007 and June 2008 using his Netlog user name `ninja-warlord' escalated when he arranged to meet Suzie at Nerang Railway Station in order to have sex with her and "teach her" how it was done.

The planned meeting followed months of emails from Barwick detailing what kind of sex acts he wanted to take part in with her, Commonwealth prosecutor Kila Pedder told the court.

However Barwick was arrested at the station and later told Suzie was not a real schoolgirl and in fact he had been communicating with an undercover police officer posing as an underage internet user.

Today, Barwick pleaded guilty to using the internet to groom a person under 16, using the internet to procure a person under 16 and two charges of using the internet to expose a child under 16 to indecent matter.

He also pleaded guilty to using the internet to access child pornography and using the internet to distribute child porn, charges laid after 132 illegal child porn images were found on his home computer and after police discovered he had sent 10 child porn videos to a woman in the United Kingdom.

Barwick, studying a Bachelor of Computer Games at Bond University, lived with his mother at a Gold Coast nursing home where his mother works as a nurse, the court was told.

Defence barrister Mark Johnson said his client was a "shy, retiring-type person who sat in front of the computer for many many hours".

"Excessive use of computers has added to his problem as a loner," he said.

"Clearly he suffers from developmental difficulties and a lack of social awareness and skills."

He said his client, who sat in the dock with a Bible and cross, had turned to religion following his arrest.

Justice Margaret Wilson said it was clear Barwick was "addicted to computers".

"That has exacerbated your social isolation," she said.

Justice Wilson said the only punishment for Barwick's "disgusting and abhorrent'" behaviour was imprisonment.

She jailed Barwick for three years with a non-parole period of 15 months.

Convictions were recorded.