UPDATE: In July 2013 the Court of Appeal quashed his child-stealing conviction.
He was resentenced for the other offences & released from Ararat prison.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-02-08/man-jailed-over-child-stealing/4508490
Man jailed over child stealing
Updated 5 hours 8 minutes ago
A central Victorian man has been sentenced to more than two years in jail, after being found with a 13-year-old girl in Millicent, in south-east South Australia, last year.
Dean Patrick James, 37, of Ballarat pleaded guilty to charges of child stealing, theft and possessing child pornography.
Last April, James was found at the Millicent Swimming Lake with the girl, whom he groomed over the internet.
He was sentenced to two years and three months in prison, with a non-parole period of one year and six months.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-27/ballarat-man-admits-to-child-stealing/4394838?section=vic
Ballarat man admits to child stealing
Updated 53 minutes ago
A court has been told a Ballarat man was serving a suspended sentence when he ran away with a 13-year-old girl in April after they met online.
Dean Patrick James, 37, pleaded guilty to charges including child stealing and possession of child pornography.
The County Court sitting in Ballarat, heard the girl from the north-west of the state, was about 10 when she and James began chatting on a singles site.
She told him she was 20-years-old.
It is alleged she later said she was 15 and was suffering from violence in her home.
She met him in Ballarat in March before being returned by authorities to her parents.
The court was told they were in regular contact and exchanged explicit photos.
A month later, she again met him in Ballarat and they drove to Millicent, South Australia, where they were intercepted by police.
The court was told James thought he was rescuing the girl from her violent home.
The hearing will resume in February.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-08-17/man-pleads-guilty-to-child-stealing/4204742?section=vic
Child stealing accused pleads guilty
Updated Fri Aug 17, 2012 2:31pm AEST
A Sebastopol man has pleaded guilty, in the Ballarat Magistrates Court in central Victoria, to child stealing.
Dean Patrick James, 36, was extradited to Ballarat in April, after he was found in the company of a missing Victorian girl at Millicent in south-east South Australia.
The child’s disappearance sparked a two-week search after it was suspected James lured the teenager away from her family.
In the Ballarat court yesterday, James pleaded guilty to child stealing, possessing child pornography and fraudulent use of car numberplates.
He is due to reappear in the County Court later this month.
http://www.thecourier.com.au/story/142332/ballarat-court-told-13yo-ran-away-twice/
Ballarat court told: 13yo ran away twice
By Jordan Oliver
July 24, 2012, midnight
Sebastopol man Dean James, 36, appeared at the Ballarat Magistrates Court yesterday charged with two counts of child stealing and a child pornography offence.
Magistrate Peter Couzens said the charges were “too serious” for James to be sentenced and directed the case towards the County Court.
The court heard James and the girl began communicating on an internet chat site in 2008, before the relationship progressed to text messaging.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Bob Anderson read a summary of the offences to the court, explaining that on March 24 this year, the girl sent an image of herself to James’ mobile phone.
He said at about the same time, the 13 year old sent a text to James indicating she was 15.
The court heard that on March 26, James paid for a V/line ticket so the girl could come to Ballarat, which she did the following day.
Sergeant Anderson said she left home in her school uniform, travelled by bus and train and was met by James at the Ballarat train station that afternoon.
He said James took her to his home in Sebastopol, before her parents reported her missing.
Police found the girl hiding at James’ home that night, after he had pretended to officers she wasn’t there.
The court heard she was taken to social welfare accommodation overnight but escaped, spending the remainder of the night with James.
Sergeant Anderson said the pair were located the next day and the girl was reunited with her parents.
It was also revealed that on April 17, the girl again travelled to Ballarat – again in her school uniform – and met with James.
After stopping off at the Sebastopol address, the pair travelled to South Australia, where James was arrested on April 23.
Mr Couzens declined to hear the case further, arguing “it’s not stealing a car, it’s stealing a child.”
The child-stealing charges were adjourned to a committal mention next month.
Man accused of child stealing has bail revoked
BY EVAN SCHUURMAN
25 Apr, 2012 12:24 AM
A MAN accused of child stealing has been remanded in custody without making an application for bail.
Dean Patrick James, 36, from Sebastopol, appeared briefly in Ballarat Magistrates Court yesterday morning, where he faced four charges relating to two separate matters.
Wearing a Melbourne Demons polo shirt and army camouflage cargo pants, James sat quietly in the dock as police successfully applied to revoke his bail.
His lawyer Jeremy Harper made no further application for bail.
Among the charges, James is facing single counts of child stealing and attempting to procure a child under 16 for sex, relating to his alleged abduction of a 13-year-old schoolgirl.
The teenager was reported missing after she left her home near Swan Hill on Tuesday last week.
James was arrested in Millicent in South Australia on Saturday, before magistrate Jack Fahey on Monday approved an extradition application made by members of the Ballarat Sexual Offence and Child Abuse Investigative Team.
Yesterday, the court heard James was on bail for other matters at the time of the alleged abduction.
He was due to appear in court on March 20 regarding charges of assault and assault by kicking, but failed to appear.
Magistrate Peter Couzens remanded James to reappear in court on June 19.
On Monday, James’ lawyer Ebony Cunningham told the Mount Gambier Magistrates Court her client would never have been in South Australia had the teenage girl not contacted him.
“He was attempting to protect a minor,” she said.
Ms Cunningham also claimed James had believed the girl was 20 years old until she purchased a train ticket to Ballarat last week.
Detective Senior Constable Adam Tink told the Mount Gambier court police had arrested James after receiving several tip-offs about the girl’s whereabouts.
Police to apply for extradition of Sebastopol man
BY TOM MCILROY
23 Apr, 2012 12:27 PM
A SEBASTOPOL man will front Ballarat Magistrates Court tomorrow morning on child stealing charges after police applied successfully to extradite him from South Australia.
Dean Patrick James, 36, fronted court in Mount Gambier this morning, where Magistrate Jack Fahey granted his extradition.
It followed his arrest about 10am on Saturday in Millicent, in south-east South Australia.
South Australian Police Superintendent Peter Crouch said James was seen by a member of the public with the girl while sitting in a car at a swimming lake in the town.
Police seized the blue Ford station wagon the pair had been travelling in and charged James with attempting to procure a child under 16 for sex and child stealing.
A Millicent resident called police after noticing the girl wearing a school uniform on a Saturday.
The woman said she pretended to collect rubbish from around the lake to observe the pair before calling police.
The girl was driven by South Australian police officers to be reunited with her parents in Victoria on Saturday night.
She had been missing since Tuesday after travelling to Ballarat via Bendigo to meet James, who had allegedly groomed her via a social networking website.
James was remanded in custody and will face court in Mt Gambier today.
On Friday, Ballarat police said they had received information about sightings of the pair but officers would not disclose the location for fear of interfering with the hunt.
Aussie Sex Offenders 