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Cleve Pain Sexual Assault trial hears he told 14-year-old on Snapchat he would be her sugar daddy

cleve pain sexual assault trial hears he told 14 year old on snapchat he would be her sugar daddy
ABC News

A 52-year-old man is on trial in the District Court accused of sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl in WA's South West after messaging her on social media and offering to be her "sugar daddy".

Cleve Maynard Pain is alleged to have first sent the girl a sexually explicit video of himself via the Snapchat app, before arranging to pick her up from a friend's house a few days later for sex.

State prosecutor Paul Dixon said it was alleged Mr Pain had earlier offered to help the girl with money and had told her he could be "her sugar daddy in exchange for sex."

Mr Dixon said the girl was told not to tell anyone about it, otherwise "she would get done for prostitution." The girl maintained she told Mr Pain her age, but it is alleged he messaged her back saying "Big risk, doesn't matter."

Girl ordered to wear blindfold

The court heard when the girl was picked up and dropped off on the day of the alleged abuse, she was told to wear a blindfold so she could see where she was taken.

Mr Dixon said the girl then received further messages in the days that followed, asking her when they could meet next and if she wanted anything bought for her.

cleve pain sexual assault trial hears he told 14 year old on snapchat he would be her sugar daddy
ABC News

While the girl made excuses not to meet up, Mr Dixon said she did say she wanted some clothing, including a pair of sneakers and some tops.

It is alleged Mr Pain then sent messages to her, saying he had ordered some items for her that were worth $500. Five days later, the girl's mother took her to the police and an investigation started that led to the arrest of Mr Pain.

The court heard the girl's telephone had been seized and Snapchat messages were found on it from two accounts — one in the name of "Adam Phillips" while the other was called "Chirpin444". A black sleeping mask was also seized from Mr Pain's home and Mr Dixon said analysis of it found traces of DNA that matched both his and the girl's.

Mr Dixon further alleged photos of the girl in her underwear were found in a recently deleted folder on Mr Pain's mobile phone.

Mr Pain is facing four charges — one of using an electronic device to procure a child, two counts of sexual penetration of a child under 16, and one count of possession of child exploitation material.

He has pleaded not guilty,  maintaining the allegations were "a fanciful story." "(Mr Pain) interacted with an account holder, there was nothing to suggest she was underage," his lawyer Abigail Rogers said.

"He befriended her and offered her advice and support."

Pain 'thought child was 16'

Mr Pain admitted sending the girl a sexually explicit message, but Ms Rogers said he "reasonably believed" she was over the age of 16.

"She had led him to believe she was over 16, she had not told him she was 14," Ms Rogers submitted.

She said Mr Pain maintained the alleged sexual abuse "did not occur."

"Mr Pain says it never happened. It just didn't happen," she said.

Ms Rogers told the jury members one of the issues they would have to decide was whether the photos of the girl found on her client's phone were indecent.

She said the girl accepted that she had taken the photos herself and that she had put them on her own social media account.

The trial is expected to run for a week.

Authored by Joanna Menagh via ABC News May 30th 2022

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