WARNING: Possibly confronting content.
The ongoing legal proceedings surrounding former NRL half Brett Finch are set to come to a head, with the date of October 17 set for sentencing following a guilty conviction for ‘using a carriage service to make available child abuse material’.
Finch initially pleaded guilty to one charge in August, despite there being five against him at the time – and a further two later added.
But the Daily Telegraph has revealed that six of the charges have been dropped following Finch’s guilty plea to one. That sole charge carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.
Finch was arrested in December 2021 following a police investigation into a ring of adult males who had each expressed an interest in having sex with pubescent and teenage boys.
Following the arrest of a convicted child sex offender, Victorian Police started investigating his use of a chat service app called ‘FastMeet’.
Through investigating this service the police found a number of messages too graphic to print, some of which had come from Finch and mentioned children as young as 12.
Finch signed a statement of agreed facts, confirming that he had used the app to participate in conversations related to inappropriate relations with young boys.
Finch remains adamant that he never conducted any physical assaults, and that the statements may have been made when he was ‘twisted’ or under the influence of an unknown substance.
Finch had a distinguished career on the football field, but to list his achievements seems a moot point that offers no context to the current charges.