A Canberra truck driver has admitted trying to procure a child for sexual activity after being busted by a covert police operative who posed as a 14-year-old girl on social media.
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Brett Hartley-Kennett also confessed in the ACT Magistrates Court on Thursday to soliciting child abuse material by asking the fictitious teenager to send him nude pictures.
Agreed facts tendered to the court show that the married 28-year-old Chisholm man, using a Snapchat account with the username "fullycol", briefly corresponded with covert operative "Amy" in June 2020.
They began messaging regularly the following month, with the offender under the impression he was talking to a 14-year-old Mount Stromlo High School student.
Hartley-Kennett lied about his age, claiming to be 22, and told the covert operative he had previously "hooked up with a girl your age".
He began asking to "hang out", and sent her a photograph of himself.
The offender requested that "Amy" send him pictures as well, with the covert police operative pretending to be shy and lacking in confidence as Hartley-Kennett repeatedly encouraged her.
Hartley-Kennett specifically asked for naked pictures on July 16 and 22, writing in one message: "I wanna see your full body nude or your vagina xx."
On the latter of those dates, the offender also made one of a number of proposals to meet with "Amy" in person, suggesting they could do so later in the week.
They eventually arranged to meet at the Arawang netball courts in Stirling on July 24, with potential plans to then travel to the fake persona's home in the offender's work truck.
Hartley-Kennett urged the covert operative not to tell anyone else about what they had discussed, writing: "Don't really want anyone knowing how old I am cause it makes me look bad."
He then went on to raise the possibility of taking the fictitious girl's virginity.
"If you wanted to loose [sic] it with me I promise I won't hurt you," he wrote, before saying "I know what I'm doing" and "Iv [sic] been told I'm really good haha".
Police officers arrived in the car park at the netball courts just before 6pm on July 24, only a minute prior to Hartley-Kennett pulling up in a tow truck to meet "Amy".
Officers arrested the man and, when they seized two mobile phones from him, he admitted that he was "too old" for a 14-year-old girl and that he "shouldn't have been talking to her".
When asked in a lengthy police interview what he believed "Amy" would think of their conversations, he replied: "She probably thought I'd rape her or something."
The number of charges laid against Hartley-Kennett grew at one point to seven.
Following months of negotiations, the offender and his lawyers reached an agreement with prosecutors for all but two charges to be withdrawn.
On Thursday, Hartley-Kennett pleaded guilty to transmitting a communication with the intention of procuring a child to engage in sexual activity, and to soliciting child abuse material.
Magistrate James Lawton committed the 28-year-old to the ACT Supreme Court for sentence, with a directions hearing listed to take place next Thursday morning.
Hartley-Kennett remains on bail ahead of that date, having been released on conditional liberty about three weeks after his arrest.
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