Daniel William Peckham decided to create his own Gothic appreciation
club on the internet, based on Rookwood cemetery.
The member****p fee he demanded from under-age teenage girls seeking to
join was ***ual intercourse or for them to email ****d photographs of
themselves to him, federal police alleged in Central Local Court
yesterday.
When he created "Rookwood Gothic Society" in a MySpace web page Peckham
declared in a foreword: "I don't like society. So I created my own, with
gothic ****s to service me. Male 22 years old Sydney, NSW Australia."
But it was a series of online chats and an alleged kissing trip to
Rookwood Cemetery with a 13-year-old girl who answered the call that
bought him before a magistrate, Ian Barnett, yesterday.
Peckham, 22, of Ashcroft, near Liverpool, was charged with using a
carriage service between last Monday and Saturday to groom a child under
the age of 16 for ***.
The charges, including one of using a carriage service to transmit child
****ography, were laid by officers from the federal police online child
*** exploitation team. The team received an email from the 13-year-old
girl last week alerting them to Peckham's activities, police alleged in
a statement presented to the court.
Police alleged the Rookwood Gothic Society website was a creation of
Peckham's for "soliciting minors for ***". It was alleged an initial
examination by police of his computer, seized in a raid on his home on
Friday, found 30 images of ****d girls, of which several had been
identified as being under the age of 13.
Police said the girl who alerted them to Peckham's activities had
communicated with him through his MySpace forum. They alleged that
Peckham said: "if the victim wishes to join his society she will have to
have *** with him or send ****d photographs of herself to him in order
for him to trust her".
"It's the only way to become a member," Peckham is alleged to have told
her.
Police said Peckham was told by the girl that she was 13 and he had told
her he was 22.
Despite an offer to post $1500 surety by Peckham's father, Mr Barnett
refused a bail application for the protection of the community. Peckham
was remanded in custody to reappear before Central Local Court on August
22
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