Confessed paedophile Maurice Van Ryn's legal team have called recent national media coverage on the former businessman "fake news" ahead of his sentencing on child sex charges.
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NSW District Court Judge Sean Grant said there is "great public interest in the case", in which the disgraced former businessman has admitted to repeatedly sexually abusing a teenage boy on the South Coast between 2010 and 2011.
The 64-year-old former chief executive appeared via audio visual link from the maximum security Hunter Correctional Centre, inside Cessnock Correctional Complex, as submissions were made on his sentencing in Bega District Court on Friday, May 3.
The sound of cell doors slamming echoed through the courtroom as a forlorn looking Van Ryn sat staring into the screen in front of him, lowering his head below the camera while Judge Grant discussed sentencing submissions from Crown prosecutor Michael Fox.
Wearing prison greens, a balding Van Ryn often appeared unable to sit still as the nature and seriousness of his offending were discussed.
He appeared to pay most attention to proceedings when his non-parole period was discussed with his defence team. Judge Grant indicated to the court Van Ryn's non-parole period may be extended when he is sentenced next week.
Judge Grant said he is "treading very carefully" given the early "stage of his judicial career", also indicating he may impose an accumulated sentence for the four offences.
He also indicated he may quote findings from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse relating to the impact of sexual offending on children during his sentencing statement.
Van Ryn, who is currently serving a sentence of 13 years and six months for child sex offences committed against nine victims over an 11-year period, pleaded guilty in March to four counts of aggravated sexual intercourse with a child aged between 14 and 16.
The charges include three counts of performing oral sex on his victim and one count of anal intercourse.
Court documents state that at one point Van Ryn offered his victim $50 cash for oral sex, which the victim refused. Van Ryn would also give the boy money for odd jobs, and for "no apparent reason".
The victim disclosed his abuse to police interstate in March last year, saying he was "embarrassed, felt responsible and believed people would think he was gay" if he reported the abuse to authorities.
In March he told police he felt "emotionally equipped to deal with what occurred".
Judge Grant said while Van Ryn's behaviour towards his victim was not necessarily of a grooming nature it was "predatory behaviour", with alcohol likely given to the victim to act as "a disinhibitor to make the child receptive to your advances".
Van Ryn's barrister Colin Heazelwood attempted to argue a can of beer would not have a strong impact on a fourteen year old, and so should not be considered an aggravating factor.
"There was no evidence they were intoxicated," he told the court.
Judge Grant referenced Van Ryn's use of alcohol with his previous victims, which included time in a corporate box at a football match in Canberra before one assault.
Mr Fox said the use of alcohol and money was part of "fostering a relationship" with his victim.
A written Victim Impact Statement was handed by Mr Fox to Judge Grant, and was not read out loud in court due to the sensitive nature of the contents.
Mr Heazelwood said media publicity from A Current Affair and more recently the Daily Telegraph had created "issues" for his client while in jail.
He claimed the effects of what he described as incorrect details in some reporting, especially surrounding superannuation laws, should be taken into account during sentencing.
"I think the current term for this is fake news," Mr Heazelwood said.
He also said the effects of civil litigation on his client should be viewed by Judge Grant as "extra-curial punishment".
Van Ryn will be sentenced in the Bega District Court on Friday, May 10.
