Shegu Bobb, then 27, leaves the ACT Courts during his jury trial. Photo: Albert McKnight.
CONTENT WARNING: This article refers to child abuse.
Despite an 11-year-old girl repeatedly telling an older man she was afraid, he still continued to try to convince her to have sex with him in his car.
On Monday (10 November), Shegu Bobb was sentenced to more than three years’ jail for abusing the girl, suspended after he spent 15 months behind bars.
Justice Belinda Baker, when handing down the sentence, remarked how the girl “appeared to be even younger than her actual age” and “repeatedly told the offender that she had been scared”.
The then-11-year-old girl set her age as 19 when creating a profile on the dating app Badoo before Bobb sent her a message in February 2020.
Justice Baker said that during the large number of messages they exchanged, they arranged to have sex, discussed the girl’s virginity and the possibility of her falling pregnant.
She said Bobb told the girl what to expect during sex, and they discussed their “fairly huge age gap”.
“I can’t believe that you’re that young,” the then-21-year-old Bobb messaged the girl.
He also told her he would keep her safe and wouldn’t hurt her.
At one stage during their conversations, she messaged him to say, “My Mum’s coming, gotta go”.
Bobb sent her a photo of his genitals and asked for photos of her genitals several times, which she sent him.
He arranged to pick her up in his car, but when he saw her, he told her to walk up the street as he thought he had seen a person sitting in a ute nearby.
While he was driving her to a location in Canberra, she was too scared to speak to him, so she continued messaging over Badoo.
“Everything will be good and it will be fun okay, trust me,” Bobb messaged to her during the drive.
After they parked, the girl repeatedly sent him messages like, “I can’t do this”, but Bobb continued to pressure her into having sex with him.
“I promised I wouldn’t hurt you,” he said.
He touched her thigh and genitals over her clothing while she messaged him, “I can’t”.
“I need to go home, my Mum will be wondering where I am,” she told him before eventually leaving.
Shegu Bobb is scheduled to be released from custody in February 2027. Photo: Albert McKnight.
At the end of his ACT Supreme Court jury trial earlier this year, the then-27-year-old Bobb was found guilty of seven charges, but acquitted of two others.
During his sentencing hearing last month, the girl’s mother told the court that the shock of what happened to her daughter had deeply affected every member of their family.
“The crime committed against the victim has had devastating consequences for our entire family,” she said.
Justice Baker said the girl had struggled with long-term psychological challenges.
“The offending has had lasting effects on her,” she said.
Justice Baker was satisfied Bobb knew the girl was under 16 at the time as he commented on the significance of their age gap and didn’t express any additional surprise when he met up with her and took action when he thought they could be seen by the person in the ute.
Bobb and his mother left war-torn Sierra Leone when he was eight and moved to Australia before he was later involved in a motor vehicle accident that resulted in the death of a cyclist.
The father of three worked in the construction industry for seven years but lost his last job due to the guilty verdicts in his trial.
Justice Baker said he endured childhood trauma and suffered from symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression at the time of his offending.
He wrote a letter to the court in which he said he was extremely ashamed of his crimes. Justice Baker found that he was remorseful, had good prospects for rehabilitation, and noted that before the trial, he had offered to plead guilty to all the charges for which he had been found guilty.
Bobb was found guilty of three counts of using a carriage service for child abuse material, two counts of using a carriage service to procure a person under 16 and single counts of transmitting indecent communication to a person under 16 and committing an act of indecency on a person under 16.
He is scheduled to be released from custody in February 2027.
If this story has raised any concerns for you, 1800RESPECT, the national 24-hour sexual assault, family and domestic violence counselling line, can be contacted on 1800 737 732. Help and support are also available through the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre on 02 6247 2525, the Domestic Violence Crisis Service ACT 02 6280 0900, the Sexual Violence Legal Services on 6257 4377 and Lifeline on 13 11 14. In an emergency, call Triple Zero.
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