Guilty plea helps avert jail
Melinda Marshall
08Jul08
A RESERVOIR man has been convicted of soliciting sex from two nine-year-old boys.
John Gale Sellars, 68, received a four-month prison sentence suspended for one year.
He will be on the sex offenders register for 15 years and will provide a DNA sample to police to guard against re-offending.
Sellars, who is in a wheelchair, approached the boys in the street in December 2006 and offered them $20 for oral sex. He also asked them to go to his flat for chocolates.
When they refused, he rubbed his groin in front of them, and asked the boys to rub their groins.
He tried to grab one of the boys when they ran away.
Sellars pleaded guilty to two counts of indecent assault, two counts of attempting to procure a child under 16 for sexual penetration, and two counts of an indecent act in the presence of a child under 16.
Sentencing Sellars at Heidelberg Magistrates' Court on July 1, Magistrate Donna Bakos said she had reduced his sentence from six months to four because the guilty plea had spared his young victims testifying in court.
Ms Bakos said although Sellars had priors for assault, he had not offended since 1988 and had no prior sexual offences.
She also took into account Sellars' precarious mental and physical health.
A father and widower, he suffered from depression, stress and forgetfulness, had a heart condition and diabetes, and had had his left leg amputated in 2004.
Ms Bakos said she also considered that Sellars had been tormented by neighbours and the community.
Outside court, Sellars said he regretted his crime.
