A FORMER trainee medical officer in Mount Gambier has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment for attempting to make child amenable to sexual activity.
Pradeep Balasubramanian, 41, appeared in the Adelaide District Court via video-link after earlier pleading guilty to the offending.
The offending related to the defendant initiating a private conversation with a covert police officer on chat service Kik on September 5 last year.
After some brief exchanges with the recipient, Balasubramanian sent her a pornographic video displaying two females performing a sex act on a male.
The officer replied, claiming she was a 13-year-old girl and had never seen such videos before.
Rather than immediately stopping the conversation, the defendant replied, expressing excitement the recipient was a 13-year-old girl.
Despite being married with two children, Balasubramanian continued to engage in overtly sexualised conversations with the recipient.
In conversations, the defendant recognised the conduct was illegal and to avoid being caught, he told the recipient not to tell anyone.
The last communication occurred on the morning of September 11, 2019, and shortly thereafter, with police arresting Balasubramanian at his Mount Gambier home.
The court heard Balasubramanian worked as a trainee medical officer at Mount Gambier Hospital.
The day after his arrest the local health network directed he not attend any workplace of SA Health.
He subsequently resigned.
Balasubramanian arrived in Australia from India in 2015, for work and education purposes.
After the offending his visa was cancelled, which also extended to his family members, including his children who, despite being born in Australia, only hold temporary visas.
As a result, his children and wife returned to her family’s home in Dubai.
On January 9, Balasubramanian was taken to immigration detention.
A month later, the defendant’s bail was revoked and he has been in prison since February 3.
Judge Jane Schammer accepted the defendant had shown insight into his behaviour since the offending.
“Although it was submitted that you do not consider yourself to hold a genuine attraction to teenage girls, rather you were simply swept up in a fantasy, I cannot accept that submission having regard to the specific content of your communications,” Judge Schammer said.
“However, I accept now that you have genuine insight into your culpability and are truly remorseful for what you have done.”
She sentenced the defendant to a six months and five days jail, backdated to February 3.
On release, it is expected Balasubramanian be returned to immigration detention until his removal from Australia.
