A 32-year-old Indian national who was sentenced to 10 months’ imprisonment for committing multiple sexual offences against a 12-year-old girl in Hobart in April 2021 has lost his bid to avoid deportation.
Court documents state the man pleaded guilty to six charges, including indecent assault and penetrative sexual abuse.
According to The Noticer, the man arrived in Tasmania on a student visa and worked as an Uber, taxi, and truck driver.
The offences occurred after the girl, who had left her family home without telling anyone, arranged to meet him at a Kmart in New Town via the dating app Grindr. He took her to his home in Lenah Valley, where the offences were committed, before returning her to New Town, where police later found her.
The offender voluntarily attended a police interview in May 2021 and made full admissions, claiming he believed the girl was 18 or 19.
The Supreme Court of Tasmania found he did not take reasonable steps to verify her true age, as required under Tasmanian law. Chief Justice Alan Blow noted aggravating factors, including the victim being under 13, but also considered mitigating factors such as the man’s lack of prior convictions, cooperation with police, early guilty plea, and remorse.
The court also cited a psychological report which found no evidence of mental illness and assessed the man as posing a low to average risk of reoffending, with no sexual attraction to children.
The judge noted previous cases involving the same victim where other men received more lenient sentences but concluded that imprisonment was the only appropriate penalty in this case.
After serving six months—the non-parole portion of his sentence—his visa was cancelled for failing the character test under the Migration Act 1958.
The man unsuccessfully sought to overturn the revocation at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and subsequently appealed to the Federal Court. Earlier this month, Justice John Snaden upheld the tribunal’s decision, confirming the visa cancellation. The man is now required to return to India.
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