Paedophile jailed for 17 years for persistent abuse of young girl

A paedophile who pretended to be a nudist to get young children to undress around him has been jailed for 17 years for the persistent sexual abuse of a girl starting when she was 10 years old.

Michael James Buckmaster, 48, abused the girl in a series of assaults that he described in a court letter as being "disgusting, perverted and sickening, something no child should be subjected to".

NSW District Court Judge Laura Wells said one incident of abuse was "so brutal" that despite the girl screaming in pain, "he continued for half an hour to have sexual intercourse with her."

After another painful assault, the distraught girl took an hour to calm down and was told to "just stop crying".

On Wednesday, Buckmaster was jailed in Queanbeyan District Court for a maximum of 17 years with a non-parole period of 10 years. He received a discount on his sentence for pleading guilty.

Judge Wells said Buckmaster admitted that he "feigned interest in nudism" as a way of encouraging young girls, including the victim, to take off their clothes.

"He was motivated by a sexual interest and he pursued this complainant ruthlessly in gaining that end," she said.

"It would seem to me that he well knew the harm that he was inflicting, but was incapable of controlling himself."

Buckmaster told a psychologist he wanted to be surgically castrated, but Judge Wells said he "has made no steps" to start this process while in custody, such as approaching Justice Health.

He was previously jailed for nine years for the aggravated indecent assault of three other children, two of whom he used to make child abuse material. He was not released on parole because he had not completed a jail program for sex offenders.

Judge Wells said Buckmaster, who later completed the sex offender program, wrote in a letter to the court that he had done "some abominable things".

He told a psychologist he continued to struggle with deviant sexual thoughts in custody, and sometimes found himself watching children's television and struggling to change the channel.

The psychologist diagnosed him with persistent depressive disorder, paedophilic disorder and avoidant personality disorder.

Judge Wells said it is clear Buckmaster "retains the urges that led him to this position", despite there being "substantial changes" to his behaviour and attitude.

In a victim impact statement, the girl detailed specific instances of how the abuse has significantly changed her life. She said she began to self-harm afterwards and also attempted to take her own life.

"There is no doubt that she's suffered immensely as a result of the three years of serious sexual abuse," Judge Wells said.

Buckmaster watched his sentence remotely from jail in Goulburn.

He will be eligible for parole in January 2026.

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