Channel Nine reporter Ben McCormack was arrested in Sydney. Source: News Ltd
Young, charismatic, sometimes famous and so sincere: the new breed of sick paedophiles preying on children are not the grubby old men of the stereotype.
They hang around on the internet rather than public toilets and playgrounds.
They are not obvious creeps with greasy ponytails who a parent could more easily suspect and keep other children away.
The new type of paedophile is often a professional in well-paid job with a public profile.
They are TV reporter Ben McCormack, good looking YMCA worker Jonathan Lord, suave father Benjamin Lawson and goofy nanny supervisor Shannon McCoole.
As the Sunday Telegraph reported, many paedophiles are under 40 and male, but they come from all backgrounds and occupations and in many cases seem "like really nice guys".
The running average inmate population in New South Wales for child sex offenders is around 1500.
These include older men who are serving prison time for crimes they committed against children when they themselves were young men under the age of 40.
Like the late Dennis Raymond Ferguson, who raped children in a hotel room with his partner Alexandra Brooks, or deviant Catholic priest Gerard Ridsdale, they were sinister old men.
But how do parents or even police recognise monsters like Sydney hotel worker Bryan Walter Beattie, who paid as little as $12 to watch live, sexual abuse of Filipino children on Skype?
Beattie - who can be heard on videotapes instructing a Filipino man while children as young as eight years old are raped - did so from the comfort of his Surry Hills, Sydney, lounge room.
The self-confessed gaming nerd was also a member of a private Facebook group for paedophiles who would share child abuse material with each other.
A Current Affair reporter Ben McCormack was a successful journalist but hid a dark secret life.
Beattie is of an increasing number of child sex offenders to use online platforms to exploit their twisted desires.
But how do police track them down and bring them to justice?
According to a senior NSW police officer formerly with the Sex Crimes Squad, a key trait police keep seeing in the new breed of paedophile is charisma.
Detective Chief Superintendent John Kerlatec, director of the NSW State Crime Command's Serious Crime Directorate said offenders' very likeability is what helps them net their victims.
"A common denominator is actually charisma," Superintendent Kertalec told the Sunday Telegraph.
"When we've charged a teacher, we will often be bombarded with emails saying, 'no it couldn't possibly be that person'.
"If they weren't likeable, they would have no chance of building a rapport."
These are the new breed of paedophiles.
BEN MCCORMACK
Former journalist Ben McCormack played dedicated volunteer lifesaver but he was secretly lusting after young boys. Picture: David Moir. Photo / AAP
Sentence: A minimum six years prison, maximum of 12.
SHANNON MCCOOLE
Childcare worker Shannon McCoole was highly popular but he was running a dark web internet service for paedophiles. Photo / My Space
Occupation: Government childcare worker, NannySA
Age on arrest: 30
Crimes: Sexually abused seven children, including a disabled child, one with autism and an 18-month-old. Ran a "dark web" internet service for paedophiles, for which he was convicted of persistent sexual exploitation of children, sexual intercourse with children, and the production and dissemination of child pornography.
Sentence: 35 years, for 18 state and two federal offences.
Personality: Highly regarded by colleagues, "everybody loved him" and there was "competition" to secure him to work in a number of childcare houses.
Crimes: 47 child sex offences against nine victims aged as young as nine.
Personality: Friends described him as "friendly and charismatic". A quirky jokester who promised pupils and their mothers that he would make the little girls stars, Grant Davies took every opportunity to get close to his prey. He was so charismatic he even convinced one mother to give him naked photos of her child. Davies also travelled to the US with his sister and company partner to appear on the Dance Moms show with Abby Lee Miller. His sister did not know that he was molesting his students, but told a royal commission that she should have done more to protect children from her brother.
Grant Davies had been investigated previously for child sexual abuse but managed to cover it up and continue on.
Sentence: 24 years prison.
MICHAEL QUINN
Michael Quinn was well-liked as a scientist and as an amateur rugby union player in Melbourne. Photo / Facebook
