Michael John Park, 24, molested the teens on separate occasions three years apart, however the first incident, which occurred in early 2013, was not reported to police at the time and only came to light earlier this year following an extensive investigation by detectives attached to the Wollongong Child Abuse Squad.

It is the third case involving the use of social media to prey on underage girls that has come before Illawarra courts in less than a month, including that of an Albion Park man who confessed to trying to blackmail a teen who sent him naked pictures on Snapchat.  

Prosecution documents presented in court reveal Park was 19 and living between his mother’s house in Woonona and his father’s house in Fairy Meadow when he contacted the first victim on Facebook in late 2012.

The pair began messaging each other, at which time the girl told Park she was 15 years old, despite only being 13.

She eventually agreed to meet Park in person. He picked her up at Warrawong and drove her to the Woonona address.

Once they were inside his bedroom, Park pushed the girl onto the bed and began removing her clothes, ignoring her objections.

He then repeatedly molested her.

The girl later told police she felt “scared and uncomfortable” with what was occurring but did not tell Park to stop as she feared he may hurt her.

When finished, Park took a shower before driving the teen back to Warrawong. She then caught a bus home.

The court heard the girl blocked Park on Facebook that afternoon, however did not report the incident to police.

Court documents reveal Park was the subject of another “very similar investigation” in 2015, but ultimately no charges were laid against him at the time.

However, in mid-2016, police received a further complaint against Park, who by then was in ADF, posted at Holsworthy Army Barracks, leading them to interview a second teenager.

The girl revealed Park had preyed on her using fake profiles on social media.

She said the pair spoke on Facebook first, then switched to Snapchat, with Park using the name ‘Stephen Smith’ on both applications.

She said ‘Stephen Smith’ requested naked images of her after they had been communicating for a time, prompting her to send him a picture of her breasts.

The court heard the girl was with a friend in a granny flat at her Illawarra home on the night of July 23 last year when ‘Stephen Smith’ contacted her on Facebook and told her to go to the front of her house to meet a man named Michael Park.

He said Park was waiting for her on the street in his vehicle.

The teen told police she believed ‘Stephen Smith’ owed Park a favour and if she did not go out and meet Park, ‘Stephen Smith’ would post the intimate image of her online.

The girl was directed to a small red car in which Park was waiting.

When she got inside, he asked her “are we going to do it” before moving into the backseat.

The teen also got into the backseat, but kept her legs directed towards the car doors.

Park then pulled her legs to face him and began fondling the girl’s genitals.

Park then told her to get out of the car. The victim said she ran back to her house and told her fiend what had happened.

The matter was reported to police the following month after the girl’s parents found a message about the abuse on her phone.

She told police she only got into Park’s car on the night out of fear ‘Stephen Smith’ would post the picture of her breasts online.

Police arrested Park on October 29 and charged him with indecent assault and child pornography offences.

He admitted having a topless photo of the girl on his phone (who he thought was 15) and using the alias Facebook page in the name of ‘Stephen Smith’, however denied indecently assaulting the teen in his car.

Police laid additional charges against Park in April this year after the victim of the 2013 offences was contacted by police and provided a statement.

Park entered guilty pleas to both sets of offences in court earlier this month.

On Friday, Wollongong District Court judge Andrew Heasler adjourned the cases against Park until next month for a hearing on sentence.​