An Australian university lecturer pretending to be singer Justin Bieber allegedly tricked scores of children worldwide into performing sex acts over the internet.
It is claimed that Gordon Chalmers (pictured left) hoodwinked up to 157 youngsters from countries including Britain and America into taking off their clothes over Facebook and Skype before recording them performing the acts.
The 42-year-old law lecturer at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane is accused of committing 931 child sex offences, including rape and grooming children under the age of 16.
Police believe he told the children he was the 23-year-old Canadian pop star and spent weeks talking to them online, gaining their confidence.
Chalmers, an expert in aboriginal law, appeared at Brisbane magistrates’ court at the weekend after his home was raided.
Prosecuting, Henri Rantala told the court that Chalmers had a ‘rapacious appetite’ for grooming children.
He said: ‘The defendant has adopted the guise of celebrity Justin Bieber and during the process of that has contacted children over the internet, who have performed sexual acts for his gratification.’
Following tip-offs from German and US authorities, Chalmers was first detained in custody last November and charged with possessing child exploitation material and grooming children.
The 931 charges – which involve up to 20 British and 50 American alleged victims – were added last week after police found more than 123,000 Skype conversations on his computer. Officers also seized a large amount of child pornography.
The latest charges include rape, indecent treatment of children, making child exploitation material, using the web to procure children under 16, and using the internet for child porn.
Detective Inspector Jon Rouse, of Queensland Police, described the scale of the alleged offending as ‘frankly horrendous’.
Chalmers, who is yet to enter pleas, has been in custody since being refused bail last year. He is due to appear in court again on April 6.
