When a judge told a 20-year-old man he was at risk of going into detention for having sexual relationships with two 14-year-old girls, the young man decided to run.
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The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was in a relationship with one girl for two months during 2017 and the other during 2018.
Both girls became pregnant after having unprotected sex with him - one girl chose to terminate her pregnancy, while the other gave birth to a son.
Wodonga County Court had been told he was not showing up to appointments as part of a community corrections order imposed for a previous crime, so it left youth detention as the next sentencing option.
When the court took a short break, the young man chose to not come back and a warrant was immediately put out for his arrest.
He later turned himself in and was brought back to court last week to face Judge Greg Lyon, who was not impressed he "flat out lied" when he said he would return in an hour.
"I just was really scared," the man told the court.
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His defence barrister Shane Kennedy apologised on his behalf.
"He heard what was in the offing and he thought he'd see his son one more time," he said.
Judge Lyon said he would not impose any extra penalty for the young man's decision to flee from court, and sentenced him to nine months in a youth justice centre.
"It would have been much easier if you hadn't booted off last week," he said.
He compared the situation to that of Tony Mokbel, the infamous underworld identity who fled from authorities while awaiting trial, first to Bonnie Doon then on a yacht to Greece.
The 20-year-old Wodonga man, who was aged 18 and 19 at the time of the relationships with the girls, will now be placed on the sex offender registry for life.
Their sexual encounters occurred at the girls' and friends' houses, and at a motel.
In his victim impact statement, one of the victim's fathers said "it's heartbreaking knowing an adult has intruded on your baby girl".