Jail for man who sent explicit messages, nude selfies to teenage girls
A Melbourne man has been jailed for sending naked photos and explicit messages to three teenage girls, including one he met on a bus.
Jason Hoad, now 37, sent photos of his penis and increasingly sexual messages to the girls, aged 13 and 14, between 2011 and 2016.
He was 30 when he contacted the first victim over Facebook messenger in late 2011.
The girl initially claimed she was 16 but later admitted she was only 13, and in early 2012 he began to have sexual conversations with her and sent photos of his penis.
Between April and August 2016, he began communicating with a 14-year-old girl he'd met on a bus nine months earlier.
In early April they travelled together from a Ballan shopping centre to Luna Park, where he kissed her on the lips while they rode the Ferris wheel.
In September, he started texting a third girl, aged 13. They each exchanged naked photos, discussed meeting, and even after the girl asked him to stop messaging her, he continued to send texts and photos.
Hoad was caught when he struck up a conversation via Facebook with someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl, but was actually a police officer.
His messages became increasingly sexual. He asked for photos and arranged a meeting at a Preston McDonalds, where he was arrested.
He was also found to be growing cannabis when police searched his property.
Sentencing him on Wednesday, County Court Judge Phillip Coish accepted Hoad's remorse was genuine, but said his prospects for rehabilitation were "cloudy".
Hoad was jailed for three years and must serve a minimum of two years before being eligible for parole.
AAP