Timothy Lane emerged from his battered caravan in secluded NSW bushland to begin his journey to bustling Bangkok.
As the 52-year-old left his mobile home in picturesque Stanhope,in the Hunter Valley,en route to Sydney International Airport,he left what had been the centre of a web of horror intent on spreading its tentacles further abroad.
The caravan in Stanhope that Timothy Lane used as his base to procure young girls for sex overseas.Supplied
Lane,who was educated at Sydney’s private Newington College,will be sentenced after pleading guilty to a raft of child abuse material charges,including two counts of procuring a child for sex outside Australia.
An agreed statement of facts paint a picture of a troubled recluse who,in the months before he flew to Thailand on March 23 last year,used his caravan as a base to chat on social media with several girls from Thailand and the Philippines aged nine to 12.
Timothy Lane has pleaded guilty to a raft of child abuse offences.Facebook
He sent or offered to send them “pocket money” via PayPal – which family members said went to new shoes or dresses – in exchange for sexual videos of them. When one girl said she was at school,Lane did not leave her alone,instead responding with a sexual request.
Lane faced a sentencing hearing at Sydney’s Downing Centre District Court this week before Judge Nanette Williams,where the defence argued mental health issues contributed to the offending,but the prosecution argued this was not a reason to lessen his sentence.
Summing up Lane’s twisted intentions,Williams said:“He’s talking about going to Thailand and meeting up with these girls,not for anything else,but for sexual gratification”.
Had it not been for a baggage check as Lane returned to Sydney on April 6,he may not have been caught.
Australian Border Force officials checked his Samsung Galaxy phone and found 22 videos and 10 images containing abuse of children as young as three.
His phone was seized and he was charged with importing prohibited goods,being the abuse material,but was granted bail on the condition he own one mobile phone,give its number to police and not download any video-sharing applications.
Timothy Lane (left) committed further child sex material offences while on bail for similar ones.Supplied
But just four days after his release on bail,Lane set up two separate phone numbers. Monitoring officers from NSW Police referred the matter to the Australian Federal Police for further investigation.
The facts state that at 10pm on May 24,Lane attended Maitland police station,where he was arrested.
Between June 1 and July 5,2023,AFP officers searched Lane’s Toyota Hilux and Stanhope caravan.
‘Yes dear,when I come to Thailand in June we can meet in Pattaya where my house is.’
Timothy Lane,in a message to a young girl
In the car,they found the Samsung Galaxy phone,while they also uncovered an Apple iPhone 11 at his home.
On the phones,police made what Williams described as a “distressing” discovery.
The Galaxy contained 10 images and one video of child abuse material that showed “victim infant children,” according to the statement of facts.
It also had social media conversations from November 2022 with several children,whom he gained access to via older family members or friends he befriended.
Authorities in the Philippines investigated reports of Lane’s online discussions with children.Supplied
One 24-year-old woman in the Philippines offered child abuse material of her 12-year-old cousin in exchange for “pocket money” once Lane said he preferred girls aged between five and 13. Lane said he wanted to go to their country and abuse “lots of little girls”.
Lane made three payments via PayPal worth nearly $100 and the 24-year-old said she bought the 12-year-old new shoes.
When asked if he could give one child “money for dress” if they did what he wanted,Lane detailed the type of dress he wanted them to buy.
Authorities uncovered more chats with overseas children,this time on Telegram,on the iPhone. They were dated between April 22 and May 11 last year – while Lane was already on bail.
Timothy Lane has pleaded guilty to a raft of child abuse offences.Stephen Kiprillis
To a girl aged between 12 and 14,Lane wrote alongside three heart emojis:“Yes dear,when I come to Thailand in June we can meet in Pattaya[in Thailand] where my house is”.
Most of the chat transcripts seen by this masthead are too graphic to publish.
The court heard Lane spent time in hospital for schizophrenia,which caused him to seek out isolation. Lane’s lawyer submitted this contributed to his offending.
The prosecutor agreed there was no evidence of Lane abusing children himself or sending the material to others,but refuted the defence’s argument the “child victim willingly engaged in sexualised conversations” and was even “desirous” to do so for pocket money or Amazon vouchers because no child can consent.
Williams reserved her judgment for Friday afternoon.
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