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Three Auckland girls fell victim to a sexual predator who groomed them over the internet.
This was revealed yesterday as their attacker was sentenced to five years in jail.
Lawrence John Davidson, 57, of Christchurch admitted three charges of sexual connection with under-age girls, three of meeting the girls after sexual grooming, and two of possessing objectionable images on his computer, including images of two of the girls.
Two of the girls were aged 15 and one was 12. They said in the chatroom that they were 18 and 16.
Judge David Saunders said in sentencing that he did not want to place any blame on the girls or their families, but the case was a warning.
"Parents need to be vigilant about what their children are doing in computer chat rooms and the associations they might make in that medium."
The officer in charge of the Christchurch child-abuse team, Detective Sergeant Neville Jenkins, told the Herald last night that Davidson groomed the girls online before travelling to Manukau, Orewa, the North Shore and Waitakere and sexually abusing them during 2006.
Mr Jenkins said the girls' parents had no idea what had happened to their daughters before being contacted by police.
Officers found the girls from one of the images which showed a "very small" portion of a school emblem on a school tunic.
The victims' families were "pretty devastated", but Mr Jenkins said internet grooming was becoming more prevalent.
"The computer is playing a greater part in a lot of crime child-abuse teams around the country are dealing with. It's now a much more anonymous way of hunting for victims."
A sexual abuse helpline has reported a dramatic rise in the numbers of young women being targeted by online predators.
The Auckland Sexual Abuse Help Foundation said there was a "significant increase" in the number of women seeking help after suffering sexual abuse or assault by someone known to them - either from their own home or from first-time meetings after internet dating.
Netsafe chief executive Martin Cocker said children were constantly at risk of being duped online, and urged them not to lie about their age on websites.
Mr Cocker said parents should try to know what their children were doing on the internet and encourage them to visit "age appropriate" websites and observe age limits, such as being at least 13 to use social networking site Bebo.
Predators lurked on websites so users had to be aware, he said.
"You can go on and look at thousands of profiles of people and decide who you are going to approach.
"The best way to keep children safe is to have open relationships and open dialogue between the parents and the children."
Sensible Sentencing Trust spokesman Garth McVicar criticised Davidson's "lenient" sentence, saying five years was not enough of a deterrent to other potential sex offenders.
Judge David Saunders said the sentence would allow time for Davidson to be assessed and receive treatment.
- NZPA
