A would-be child sex tourist asked a court to return his passport so he could travel to South America to buy scorpion venom to treat his cancer.
Blazo Vuksanovic, aged 68, was sentenced at the Western Australian District Court yesterday (Tuesday, November 7) after admitting to grooming a 15-year-old Filipina on Facebook. He was given a one-year suspended sentence due to his medical condition.
According to a report in the West Australian, Vuksanovic chatted with the girl for two days last November, telling her he loved her, that he wanted to meet her and that he wanted to “teach her” sex – despite knowing her age.
Australian Federal Police intercepted the messages, and raided Vuksanovic’s home in Perth. There they found evidence that he was using the alias “Bill Montenegro” to chat to girls across Southeast Asia – including the 15 year-old.
“I love you my dear … can you stay with me?” he said in one message to the Filipina, following up with: “I love you … I teach you sex if you like.” At that point the girl closed down the conversation by calling him “dirty”.
Judge Felicity Davis was told that the 68 year-old had contracted bowel cancer, and had initially refused chemotherapy and instead chose to medicate himself with scorpion venom sourced from Paraguay.
However, after his arrest, his passport was confiscated and he began a course of chemotherapy.
After being told that Vuksanovic’s cancer was terminal, Judge Davis said she was satisfied that an immediate prison term was not warranted.
Instead she gave Vuksanovic a 12-month jail term, immediately suspended on a 12-month, $500 good behaviour bond.
But when asked if she could return his passport, the judge was not sympathetic.
“If he’s not well enough to go to prison, he is not well enough to travel,” she said. “And it makes you wonder how he would get his medicine – if I can describe it that – back into Australia every time.”
As we reported in May, Australia has taken steps to prevent convicted sex offenders from travelling abroad by confiscating their passports.