Ex-public servant jailed after repeatedly raping 13-year-old Tinder match

CONTENT WARNING: This article refers to child abuse.

A former public servant met a 13-year-old girl on a dating app before repeatedly raping her over several days, despite having earlier messaged a friend to say he thought she might be “underaged”.

Jaryn Timosevski, a 23-year-old who used to work for Service NSW, was convicted and sentenced to a total of two years and nine months’ jail by the ACT Supreme Court on Tuesday (2 July).

Acting Justice Michael Elkaim said the then-21-year-old met the young girl on Tinder in December 2022. While users are supposed to be at least 18 to use the dating app, it did not have an age verification process.

Timosevski thought she may have been under the age of 16, as he had messaged a friend to say he had met this “really hot” girl, but also said, “I think she might be underaged so I’m going to have to ask for some ID or something”.

Acting Justice Elkaim said, regrettably, he did not act on his suspicions.

He met up with the girl and gave her a cannabis vape before groping her in his car, then drove her to his home and began touching her. She told him it felt “wrong”, but he told her she was “special”.

He then raped her before driving her home. Over the next few days, he gave her his cannabis vape before raping her on two more occasions. The girl went to police the day after the third rape.

“I have no doubt that the victim has been psychologically affected by the offender’s actions,” Acting Justice Elkaim said.

He said he did not think Timosevski’s actions were predatory when he first matched with the girl on Tinder, but once he did have a suspicion about her young age, his actions could be described as predatory after that.

The acting justice did accept he was remorseful and was an otherwise decent person.

Timosevski worked in McDonald’s before later getting a job with the NSW Government and began binge drinking after he moved to Canberra, as well as occasionally using drugs.

He was arrested and then granted bail to live on the NSW South Coast with his family. But after issues arose with his mental health, he spent two months in a mental health facility before being remanded into custody.

A psychological assessment reported that he was at an above-average risk of sexual reoffending.

Timosevski, who had spent seven months in custody, pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual intercourse with a person under 16 and one count of committing an act of indecency on a person under 16.

He was handed a non-parole period of about one year and eight months’ jail. As this was backdated to account for time served, he will be eligible for release from July 2025.

He will be a registered sex offender for 15 years and possibly the rest of his life.

If this story has raised any concerns for you, 1800RESPECT, the national 24-hour sexual assault, family and domestic violence counselling line, can be contacted on 1800 737 732. Help and support are also available through the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre on 6247 2525, the Domestic Violence Crisis Service ACT 6280 0900, and Lifeline on 13 11 14. In an emergency, call Triple Zero.