Kmart predator Sterling Free lured a little girl from the Kmart toy aisle and sexually assaulted her in bushland
A seven-year-old girl abducted from a Kmart by a stranger who sexually assaulted her in bushland curled up in the foetal position and reverted to baby talk when police tried to speak to her.
Details of the attack on the girl were revealed in a Queensland Court of Appeal judgment which overturned a sentence potentially allowing Sterling Mervyn Free to walk free on parole in less than two years.
Free, a father of two, kidnapped the girl from Westfield North Lakes Shopping Centre, about 25km north of Brisbane, on December 8, 2018.
The girl had been shopping with her mother in the toy section of Kmart, looking for something to buy with her pocket money.
Free, then 26, drove the girl to bushland about half an hour away at Pumicestone Passage and molested her before returning the child to the shopping centre.
Free, now 28, was jailed for eight years in October for crimes District Court Judge Julie Dick described as ‘abhorrent’ and ‘every parent’s worse nightmare’.
He had pleaded guilty to taking a child for immoral purposes, deprivation of liberty, and indecent treatment of a child under 12.
The Queensland Attorney-General appealed against the ‘manifestly inadequate’ sentence which offered Free an earliest possible release date of August 10, 2021.
Free, who worked at Fantastic Furniture and is the father of twins, was originally eligible for parole on August 10, 2021. The Court of Appeal has overturned any parole recommendation
Free leads the little girl away from Westfield North Lakes Shopping Centre, in footage shown to the District Court. Free said he acted on ‘urges’ to sexually assault the child
On Tuesday the Court of Appeal confirmed Free’s eight-year head sentence but removed any recommendation about his parole eligibility.
It is still unclear exactly what Free did to the girl, beyond his admissions, because she has been unable to describe her ordeal.
The Court of Appeal judges described the girl as having been ‘reluctant, or unable, to provide any real details about what occurred in the time she was missing.’
‘At times, when police tried to speak to her, she would avoid eye contact, curl herself up into the foetal position, hide or revert to speaking in baby talk and sounds,’ the judges said.
The girl told police Free approached her in Kmart and ordered her to come with him.
‘He told her his name, and she told him her name,’ the judges said. ‘She went with the respondent, and got into his car. They talked about Christmas and drove past tall trees.
‘When they got out of the car, there were lots of bushes and trees around. He told the child to follow him into the bush.’
The girl recalled lying on the ground but did not describe the sexual offending. She said she did not talk to Free while they were in the bush.
When he was finished Free told the girl to get in his car and drove her back to the shopping centre, according to the Court of Appeal judges.
The little girl was searching the Kmart toy aisles at Westfield North Lakes for a present while her mother stood nearby, when the predator led her away
In a letter to the court which was later read out loud to journalists sex fiend Free said: ‘I can only ever say sorry. I know that this is not good enough’
‘A few days after the incident, the child told her mother she knew she should not have gone with the respondent, but he had told her he was a good friend of her mum’s and that she had said it was OK for the child to go with him.’
Free told police he was shopping for Christmas presents when he saw the child alone in Kmart and ‘the urges just kicked in’.
‘He asked her to come with him and, to his surprise, she began to follow,’ the Court of Appeal judges said.
‘Part of his conscience was telling him “don’t do this” and “freaking out” but the “urge” was telling him he needed to do it.
‘He admitted he had always had sexual thoughts and fantasies about young girls, but had never acted upon it until this day.’
Free told police once he was out on the highway ‘the dark urge had taken over’ and he sexually assaulted her in bushland where he could not be seen from the road.
Sterling Free lured the girl from this shopping centre at North Lakes, north of Brisbane
‘He described the child as looking confused and scared,’ according to the judgment. ‘Afterwards, he told the child to get dressed, then picked her up and carried her back to the car.
‘After putting her in the car, he smoked a cigarette before driving back to the shopping centre.
‘Once there, he parked outside the carpark, then helped her cross the road and walked her to the path leading to the shopping centre, leaving her to go in alone.’
Free told police his actions made him feel sick and were disgusting. He knew what he had done was wrong but his sexual arousal was overwhelming and ‘he had a demon inside that he couldn’t control.’
Since the attack the girl’s behaviour had changed significantly, according to the Court of Appeal judgment.
‘She became clingy, anxious and easily upset,’ the judges said. ‘She was also often angry and aggressive, particularly towards her mother.
‘The material before the sentencing judge indicated the child appears to have blocked this incident from her mind, and refuses to discuss it.
Anatomy of a crime: Sterling Free (on left) abducted the girl as she milled about the toy aisle at Kmart North Lakes on December 8, 2018, while he was Christmas shopping
‘The incident has plainly, and unsurprisingly, had a severely traumatising impact on her; that impact is likely to be long-lasting.
‘The impact on her mother is also substantial; and it has also affected wider family and friends.
‘As described by the learned sentencing judge, the offending is every parent’s nightmare; it is a nightmare for any child as well.’
In a statement read outside court on the day of Free’s sentencing by his lawyer Shaune Irving, the predator admitted: ‘I took away her innocence and scared her family’.
‘I hope that today my sentence provides her and her family some hope for the future,’ he said. ‘I can only ever say sorry.’
Before Free’s sentencing the girl’s mother said no punishment would ever fit the crimes he committed against her daughter.
‘My tiny innocent girl was well aware of stranger danger, however this person was friendly to her and tricked her into following him,’ she said.
‘No child should ever have to go through this type of trauma, and no sentence will ever be long enough to make up for the ongoing effects this will have on her.’
‘We, as a family, remain positive and are trying to move forward. We would like to thank the Queensland Police Service, the Queensland DPP and the Australian public for their support throughout this ordeal.’
CHILD PREDATOR STERLING FREE’S LETTER TO THE COURT
Child predator Sterling Free wrote a letter to the court, which was read out by his lawyer outside the District Court
‘I accept full responsibility for my actions against the young girl. I know the enormous pain I have caused her, her family, my own family and children.
‘I today accept without reservation the punishment imposed by the justice system today.
‘I do not wish to cause any further pain to the young victim or her family or delay justice any further.
‘I cannot comprehend the pain that I have caused her. I took away her innocence and scared her family.
‘I hope that today my sentence provides her and her family some hope for the future.
‘I can only ever say sorry. I know that this is not good enough.
‘I’m not looking for forgiveness but only to let you know the harm that I have done, the harm that I have caused.
‘I cannot imagine the pain and fear I have caused. I can’t take that back.
‘To my family, the shock you have had to deal with, the public scrutiny was immense, my children deserve better.
‘They will now grow up without a father and I can only blame myself. I cannot comprehend the damage I have caused. I will seek treatment to ensure this doesn’t occur again.
‘I am committed to using my incarceration to seek professional assistance that I duly require.’