a day ago
Popular children's author enters plea after he was arrested for grooming underage girls for sex
A popular children's author has pleaded guilty to sex offences laid against him.
Oliver Phommavanh, 41, was arrested and charged with online grooming on May 16 last year.
Phommavanh allegedly sent inappropriate images to someone he thought was a 13-year-old girl.
NSW State Crime Command's Sex Crimes Squad detectives launched an investigation after receiving an interstate report that the children's author had allegedly been communicating inappropriately with a child online.
Officers under Strike Force Trawler arrested Phommavanh and executed a search warrant at his Old Guildford home, where several electronic devices were seized.
Phommavanh was charged with use of a carriage service to groom someone under 16 years old for sex and use of carriage service to procure someone less than 16 years old for sexual activity.
Detectives allege he used his position as a children's author to engage inappropriately with kids online.
This included inappropriate photos and videos sent to one girl known as 'LK' and another he thought to be a child but was actually an undercover police officer.
Phommavanh was first released on bail before being charged in August with crimes he allegedly committed between June 2022 and December 2023.
He faced a second round of charges in November for offences allegedly carried out between 2019 and May 2024.
Phommavanh pleaded guilty to using a carriage service to groom a person under 16 years for sex, using a carriage service to procure a person under 16 for sexual activity and using a carriage service to engage in sexual activity with a child at Parramatta Local Court on Friday.
He also pleaded guilty to attempting use a carriage service to engage in sexual activity with a child, using a carriage service to send indecent material to a person under 16, using a carriage service to make child abuse available and using a carriage service to solicit child abuse material.
Phommavanh's case will return to court on September 12.
He will later be sentenced in the NSW District Court.
Phommavanh grew up in western Sydney and is a self-described author, comedian and teacher and had a history of visiting schools and libraries as a lecturer.
He has written books including 'Thai-riffic!' and 'The Other Christy' and was an ambassador for the NSW Premier's reading challenge.
