An ex-brothel owner and convicted sex offender has been slapped with a fine after he failed to tell police he had been using an Asian dating website.
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Dennis Raymond Walker was jailed in late 2014 after a jury found him guilty of four counts of sexual intercourse with a child under the age of 10 and one count of indecent assault.
The charges stem from allegations Walker had engaged in sexual acts on two occasions with a girl then aged seven or eight, some time in 2008 or 2009.
As part of Walker's sentence, he was placed on the NSW Child Protection Register for 15 years, which came into effect when he was released from custody on parole in April 2018.
Documents tendered to Wollongong Local Court at Walker's sentencing hearing revealed the 76-year-old had completed three yearly reporting obligations under the terms of the CPR, in which he had to provide police with details of "any email address, internet user names, instant messaging user names, chat room user names or any other user name or identity" he used or intended to use on the internet.
The court heard officers arrived at Walker's West Wollongong home on September 9 to carry out a surprise inspection to ensure he was compliant with the CPR conditions.
When asked if any of his current information had changed, Walker said the information officers had on file was accurate and did not need updating.
However, a search of Walker's mobile phone found he was logged in to the online dating application Qpid Dating and AsiaMe.com with the user-name 'Denny Walker'.
A check of the most recent form containing Walker's user names revealed the dating website was not among them.
The court heard Walker initially told police that he had only had the dating app for about a month and a half and had not communicated with anyone on it.
However, a further investigation by police revealed Walker had been using the app since May this year and had bought credits so he could message other people.
Walker told detectives he did not think he had to report his use of the app to police.
Walker was charged with a single count of failing to comply with his reporting obligations, to which he pleaded guilty in court.
He told Magistrate Gabriel Fleming he had been using the app to speak to a woman who lived overseas.
Magistrate Fleming convicted Walker and fined him $500.
