39-year-old Uber driver Gaurav Manwah was arrested on Tuesday while allegedly engaging in sexually explicit conversation with someone he believed to be a 14-year-old girl in Sydney.
Mr Marwah had actually been chatting with an under-cover detective form the NSW Sex Crimes Squad’s Child Exploitation Internet Unit.
Before his arrest on Tuesday morning in Parramatta in Sydney, he had been allegedly using an online service to chat with the girl for over a month and later to meet her in person.
The police alleged in the court that Mr Marwah believed he was speaking to a 14-year-old girl and engaged in sexually explicit conversations with the child and made arrangements to meet in person.
Shortly after the arrest, detectives executed a search warrant at a home at Kellyville Ridge, where they seized electronic devices.
He was charged with using a carriage service to procure persons under 16 years for sexual activity, for which the maximum sentence is 15 years.
Mr Marwah appeared at Parramatta Local Court on Wednesday and was refused bail, reported.
Magistrate Karen Staford said it was clear Mr Marwah believed the girl he was procuring was a school girl.
It doesn't matter that she wasn't a 14-year-old girl ... though I'm glad she wasn't a 14-year-old girl," the magistrate said.
Court documents state that Mr Marwah admitted to the online communications, but stated that "the person instigated the sexual aspect".
It was submitted that Mr Marwah earns about $1,000 a week as an Uber driver and that he has a family.
Magistrate Stafford acknowledged that Mr Marwah had no previous record of crime. But he was deemed a risk to the society, if released, in view of the seriousness of the crime.
He will appear before the court again on 14 November visa an audio-visual link.
Strike Force Trawler is an ongoing investigation by the Child Exploitation Internet Unit into the sexual abuse and exploitation of children facilitated through the internet and related telecommunications devices.
