A Qantas flight attendant and former police officer had sex with a Year 7 boy in his home while his parents were away.
Mark Ward pleaded guilty this week in Campbelltown District Court to multiple offences, including possession of child abuse material. Macarthur Chronicle reported.
The court heard how the paedophile contacted the underage victim via Grindr in 2017 after he left the police force and was working as a flight attendant for Qantas.
Ward then moved the conversation with the 14-year-old to Snapchat, where he sent photos of him in his old police uniform and asked sexual questions.
Eventually, he pressured the victim into allowing him to have sex at his home. When the boy brought up his age again, Ward said, “That’s fine with me.”
Ward had sex with the victim in his bedroom. The sex was interrupted when the boy warned his parents that they would be back soon, despite Ward begging him to continue.
According to court documents, the victim spoke out after telling a friend in 2023 that he had sex with a man “in his 40s or 50s” when he was a minor.
To which his friend replied, “What the f**k, you need to tell someone.”
The court heard he pursued a 14-year-old boy for sex while working as a flight attendant
When police were alerted, they set up a ruse to catch Ward, creating a fake Grindr profile of another 14-year-old boy from his neighbourhood in Campbelltown, in Sydney’s south.
Despite nearly six years between the crime they were investigating and their attempt, Ward messaged the profile asking for “nude photos.”
Ward then sent explicit messages and nude photos of himself to an undercover agent’s profile.
Police then raided his address in St Andrews and seized his electronic equipment.
Investigators reviewed his Telegram messages and found messages in which he discussed his attraction to underage boys.
Mark Ward has pleaded guilty in Campbelltown District Court to multiple offences including possession of child abuse material
Officers also found nine files containing child abuse material, including one of a boy under the age of 12 who had oral sex with a man.
Ward has admitted having sexual intercourse with a child, sending indecent material to a person under the age of 16 via a transportation service and possessing child pornography.
He will appear in court again later this year to determine his sentence.