Yesterday in a LA court, disgraced former rugby player and IVF geneticist, ankles shackled, reportedly sobbed throughout the sentencing when he learned he would be jailed for 12 years.
Michael Quinn’s parents, who had flown in to support their son, watched as he begged for a second chance, telling US District Court Judge John Walter that “I won’t let you down”. He said it was the first time he had attempted to prey on a child.
But the judge showed no leniency, sentencing Quinn to the term requested by the prosecutors, two years longer than the defence had asked for.
The veteran judge described Quinn’s desire to attend what Quinn believed was a pedophile party at an LA hotel room and pay a pimp to allow him to rape a young boy as “absolutely disgusting”, “ghastly” and “despicable”.
The party was a sting set up by undercover US authorities who had been communicating with Quinn online for several weeks in Melbourne before he departed on a rugby trip to the US with some of his Melbourne Chargers team-mates.
US authorities were tipped off when they saw a post Quinn put up on a paedophile social media site saying: “Aussie perv, heading to the US late May/June interested to meet others while I’m there. LA, Nashville, NYC.”
In the following conversations he had with US agents posing as the paedophile party organisers, Quinn expressed a “preference for boys aged five-10, agreed to pay $US250 an hour to be provided with a child he could sodomise, and suggested sharing a child with one of the other men”.
In defence, the court heard that at the time Quinn had a severe addiction to methamphetamine that had altered his thinking and created psychotic thoughts. The court heard a psychologist who examined Quinn in jail concluded it was unlikely he would reoffend. It was also claimed that Quinn had been abused as a child.
Much of this was dismissed by the judge. “The defendant had every intention of raping a boy,” the judge said.
