When a 13-year-old boy, groomed by a nurse he met on a dating app, agreed to meet his abuser he confided his plan in a cousin.
The alarm was immediately raised with the boy's sister, parents and police but despite officers trailing him from a regional Victorian bus stop toward the groomer's house, 32-year-old Mark Clorion was able to sexually offend against the boy.
He was jailed on Wednesday for three years and eight months for grooming, sexually assaulting and sexually penetrating the young teen.
The boy and his family were in the Victorian County Court for the sentencing hearing.
Clorion knew the boy was underage when they first communicated on Grindr, which the boy had downloaded on a friend's phone in late 2022.
He knew the boy had no sexual experience, but later told a psychologist that he "wanted to be his first partner".
Clorion, a registered nurse who was working at a local hospital at the time, said he felt a compulsion to sexually engage with the underage boy.
He sought and received pictures from the boy while exchanging explicit sexual messages throughout late November 2022 and they agreed to meet on December 1.
The boy questioned Clorion to make sure he wasn't going to kidnap him.
"I don't want to raise a child," Clorion replied, before making a reference to a US serial killer and sex offender.
"I'm not Jeffrey Dahmer."
The teen took a bus to the nearby town where Clorion lived, after telling the plan to his cousin, who shared it with others.
His sister and police were waiting at a bus stop when the teen arrived and they tailed him as he met and followed Clorion to his home.
But they lost sight of the pair before anything could be done to stop what was to follow.
Clorion took the boy into his bedroom in a share house and sexually offended against the teen, who could only think about leaving and meeting his sister afterwards.
She had called him shortly after he arrived at Clorion's home and he told her he was with a friend.
He met her afterwards and helped lead police to Clorion's home, where he was later arrested.
Clorion admitted what he had done and told officers he was sorry.
He said he had been exposed to sexual exploration at an early age in a Roman Catholic seminary in the Philippines where he lived before arriving in Australia to study nursing.
Clorion said it had been a dream to come to Australia to study and was upset his actions ruined his life and career, and will result in him being deported.
Now a registered sex offender for life, he will be eligible for parole after serving two-and-a-half years.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
