A MELBOURNE man has admitted coercing girls, some of them under age, he met on the internet to have sex with him.
John Raymond Zimmerman, 25, has pleaded guilty to 26 sex crimes including three counts of rape and nine counts of sexually penetrating a child under 16 and three counts of using a carriage service to procure a child for sex.
A number of other charges were withdrawn in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday.
Wearing a dark suit and a black tie, a clean shaven Zimmerman had his head slightly turned to the magistrate throughout the proceedings, avoiding eye contact with anyone in the public gallery.
He said only one word – “guilty” – when he was asked how he intended to plea.
Zimmerman stood with his hands folded in front of him and bowed his head slightly to the magistrate as he announced his guilty plea.
He also pleaded guilty to four counts of indecent assault, a single count of procuring a child for the making of child pornography, two counts of possessing child pornography, three counts of stalking and a single count of inviting a child under 18 to make child pornography.
The charges relate to five girls, whose ages are not specified in court documents.
An application by the media to access a summary of the case was refused.
Police have previously alleged Zimmerman contacted his victims through an internet social networking site and later coerced them into having sex with him.
Zimmerman, formerly of Frankston, did not apply for bail and was remanded in custody to face the Victorian County Court for a directions hearing on September 15.
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