Baby-faced teen accused of catfishing underage boys

News.com.au

7 hours ago

A former school support worker allegedly told an 11-year-old boy he wanted to 'see u take shorts off' while impersonating a teenage girl on social media, court documents allege.
Police allege Thomas Gottaas, 19, created multiple fake personas to catfish underage boys and paid some to film themselves in 'extremely graphic' sexual poses or acts.
Mr Gottaas was arrested in January and charged with offences including possessing and producing child abuse material, and participating as a client in an act of child prostitution.
He has not entered any pleas to the charges.
Court documents released after Mr Gottaas was granted bail in the NSW Supreme Court reveal what police allege were the methods of 'manipulation' he used to engage the boys throughout 2024.
'The first method involved the accused paying a child victim to send him sexually explicit material or allow him to record the child performing live solo sexually explicit acts,' the documents allege.
'The second method involved 'catfishing' by using a fake social media profile to contact a victim and pretend to be a young female, after which the accused used the fake profile to extort the victim and pressure them to send him sexually explicit material of themselves or allow the accused to record them perfoming live solo sexual acts.'
Police allege the then-18-year-old used Wizz – an encrypted app for young people – setting his age to 16 and began 'numerous' chats with the words 'want to make $$$'.
If the person responded positively, court documents allege, Mr Gottaas would propose moving the conversation to Snapchat or another encrypted app.
Other times he would allegedly text teenage boys, saying he 'was told to message this number' before claiming it was on behalf of a girl.
'Some chick is saying she has stuff of you,' he allegedly told one boy.
The documents also allege he instructed a boy, 15, in September 2024 to 'send two vids for $20'.
'Wat type,' the boy asked.
'Ass,' Mr Gottaas allegedly said.
After a debate over the amount of money offered, Mr Gottaas allegedly said: 'I've sent u a fair bit in total tho … I've sent u $170 in total'.
In November 2024, court documents allege, he screen recorded a chat with an 11-year-old boy in which he passed on messages like 'I wanna see u take shorts off to show undies'.
'I'd just do it get it over and done with … So she pisses off,' he allegedly wrote, referencing a female persona he had created.
Other alleged messages, sent to a 16-year-old boy, were too graphic to report and involved Mr Gottaas allegedly instructing the boy to perform acts with a sex toy on live video.
Mr Gottaas, who lived in Picton, was employed as a temporary support worker at a Sydney public school at the time of his arrest.
Police have identified four alleged victims, but had been unable to determine the identity of four others allegedly depicted in images on Mr Gottaas' phone, the court heard last Thursday.
It is not suggested any of the alleged victims attended the school at which the accused worked.
The Crown opposed Mr Gottaas' bail application last week, saying the case against him was 'overwhelming' due to the data found on his phone and electronic devices.
Prosecution documents state the allegations from 2024 displayed 'a significant degree of planning, organisation, sophistication and deception'.
'He used two different phone numbers and created false online profile in the names of teenage girls, then sent messages essentially blackmailing the young boys to get them to send him intimate images or agree to him recording them,' the court documents allege.
It was also alleged that upon his arrest, police noticed Mr Gottaas was logged into a female Snapchat account on his laptop and had multiple Google accounts in female names on his phone.
Justice Ian Harrison granted Mr Gottaas bail after hearing he would live under strict supervision from his mother and grandfather, who also offered a $900,000 surety.
'There is nothing in his history to suggest he will not comply with the bail conditions especially as he has had his first taste of custody for the last five months,' the judge said.
'That has, according to his mother, been a singularly unpleasant experience for him as can be imagined.'
The court heard Mr Gottaas' family was concerned he might have a mental health condition, and they were seeking specialist treatment.
Mr Gottaas is yet to enter a plea to the charges and will next face court in July.