A young man convicted of having sex with an underage girl has been granted bail, despite being sentenced to spend nearly a year in jail. Connor Lind was convicted on two counts of sexual intercourse with and one count of sexually touching a person under the age of 16, following a Sydney District Court trial in September. The now 23-year-old was cleared on two other similar charges and continues to deny any wrongdoing.
On Friday, Lind was sentenced to spend at least 11 months behind bars, but instead left the court on bail following an immediate intervention by his lawyer. Defence barrister Lisa-Claire Hutchinson told the court Lind would be appealing both the convictions and sentence, and successfully applied for him to be bailed in the meantime. Judge John Pickering granted bail on the likelihood an appeal hearing would not occur until Lind had already served the bulk of his sentence.
However, he noted should Lind lose the appeal, he will most likely have to serve his sentence from that time, extending his potential release date. "He makes this application with his eyes wide open to that outcome," Ms Hutchinson said. Lind was 19 at the time he pursued a sexual relationship with the girl, sending her messages and a Christmas card expressing what the court accepted were genuine feelings for her.
Judge Pickering accepted Lind's offending wasn't "predatory", but said he had no choice but to impose a period of full-time jail. "There has to be a reflection of the seriousness of th.
