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Caleb Horner was a Mormon church member in the Wantirna Ward, Melbourne, Australia.
According to a person familiar with the case who requested anonymity, the alleged abuse occurred while Horner was an active LDS member.
At the time Horner was arrested, he had stopped going to LDS church meetings and was living with a partner in Perth, Australia, the source said.
Horner was in jail for over a year awaiting trial.
In October 2024, Horner was sentenced to three years of “community corrections,” avoiding additional jail time.
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Facts
- Criminal: Convicted, Found guilty, Jail, Ongoing,
- Positions: Missionary,
- During crime: Unknown position,
- When accused: Unknown position,
- Victims: Unknown number of victims,
- AKA Caleb Smibert
- Mission: unknown
Sources
- Perth-based ADF member Caleb Horner accused of teen assault bailed,
- I Come to Him,
- Caleb Horner: Ex-soldier fighting to stay out of jail after abusing child in Melbourne,
- Ex-ADF soldier avoids more jail for teen's sex assault,
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1. Perth-based ADF member Caleb Horner accused of teen assault bailed
An Australian Defence Force member accused of raping a teenage boy has been released on bail.
Perth-based Caleb Horner, 36, was granted the application in the County Court in Melbourne on Monday.
He is due to stand trial next year after pleading not guilty to charges including rape, sexual penetration of a child under 16, sexual assault of a child under 16 and grooming.
Police allege Horner first contacted a 12-year-old boy on Instagram in 2018 before reconnecting with him online two years later.
The 36-year-old is accused of grooming the boy and sexually assaulting him between January and March 2020.
Horner was arrested in November last year and has been in custody for the past 270 days.
He allegedly admitted to police that he spoke to the boy, knew the teen’s age and shared photos with him.
In her reasons for granting bail, County Court Judge Fiona Todd noted Horner demonstrated compelling reasons as he had no prior convictions, no previous court orders and a stable address.
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2. I Come to Him
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3. Caleb Horner: Ex-soldier fighting to stay out of jail after abusing child in Melbourne
A former soldier arrested on base after grooming a child online is fighting to stay out of jail, a court has been told.
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A former soldier arrested at a Perth base after sexually abusing a child he met online is fighting to remain out of jail, a court has been told.
Caleb Horner, 38, appeared in the Victorian County Court on Monday after he was found guilty on two counts of sexual assault by touch of a child under 16.
Horner was arrested in November 2021 and extradited to Victoria, where he faced trial late last year and was acquitted on 18 additional charges, including sexual penetration of a child.
The court was told Horner organised to pick up the child in February 2020 after contacting him on social media and exchanging “grooming messages of a sexual nature”.
He took the boy through a McDonald’s drive-through and then drove to Cheltenham Park, in Melbourne’s southeast, before placing his hand down the boy’s pants and causing him to place his hand on Horner’s groin.
The prosecution alleges the 14-year-old boy resisted, telling Horner he “didn’t want to do this” and didn’t feel comfortable but later froze up, while the defence argue there’s little evidence Horner was “persistent”.
Defence barrister Emily Allan told the court that Horner had grown up in a “devout” Mormon community and had faced intensive discipline and conversion therapy after revealing his sexuality.
She said her client’s offending occurred during a period of confusion after he was excommunicated from the church – with many family members cutting contact.
“This was a time when Mr Horner was confused about where he stood in the world,” she said.
The now administrative worker joined the army seeking “belonging”, Ms Allan said, and was relocated to Perth in 2021 when he experienced a “big fall from grace”, as he was arrested on base.
She told the court it was accepted there was a “degree of planning and grooming” in Horner’s conduct, but he had not offended in the almost four years since.
Ms Allan called on Judge Stewart Bayles to not send her client back to prison, arguing a sentence of 274 days time served and a community corrections order was appropriate.
Prosecutors, on the other hand, submitted the case was too serious and Horner should receive a jail sentence, arguing he continues to maintain he did not commit the offences.
His victim, now a university student, told the court that Horner’s abuse had left him blaming himself, now wondering why a child would choose to meet up with an adult and not tell his parents.
He said Horner first reached out online two years earlier when the student was 12 years old and he now struggled to let people into his life.
“Not a single day goes by where I don’t have flashbacks about what Caleb did to me,” he said.
“I don’t think I’ll ever not be afraid to see him again.”
Judge Bayles will hand down his sentence next month.
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4. Ex-ADF soldier avoids more jail for teen's sex assault
A former Australian Defence Force soldier who sexually assaulted a boy he met on social media has avoided additional jail time.
Caleb Horner, 38, was sentenced in Melbourne's County Court to a three-year community corrections order for two counts of sexual assaulting a child under 16.
He was handed a 274-day jail term but has already served that in pre-sentence detention.
Judge Stewart Bayles reiterated multiple times throughout his sentencing on Thursday that Horner's offending was serious, but noted his previous experience in prison and his willingness to engage with rehabilitation.
"The sentence imposed should not be regarded as soft," he said.
"It is intended to be an onerous order with significant conditions and consequences."
Horner was accused of grooming a 14-year-old boy after striking up a conversation on Instagram in 2020.
The two met on February 17, 2020 with Horner collecting the victim in his car and driving to McDonald's to get food before parking at Cheltenham Park in Melbourne's southeast.
There, the prosecution said Horner, who was 34 at the time, began feeling the victim's leg and put his hand down the boy's pants.
When the boy pushed his hand away, Horner told him it "would be fine" before forcing the teen to put his hand down his pants despite his resistance, Judge Bayles said.
Horner was arrested in November 2021 at his Perth army base before being extradited to Victoria.
He admitted exchanging messages despite knowing the victim was 14 , but denied anything sexual occurred other than kissing, the judge said.
He was released on bail before a jury trial in 2023 where he faced 20 charges but was acquitted of 18.
The judge noted Horner's relationship with his family deteriorated after he came out as gay, which also led to him being excommunicated from his Mormon church.
His time in prison was more burdensome, having been seriously assaulted in his cell and requiring prison protection.
It was also during an intense part of the COVID-19 pandemic, during which Horner spent three of the nine months in isolation.
He was formally discharged from the defence force in April 2023, but the judge rejected this was extra-curial punishment.
The 38-year-old has been ordered to complete a three-year corrections order, with 250 hours of community work, mental health treatment and programs to reduce his risk of reoffending.
The judge declared his prison sentence already served and he will report as a sexual offender for eight years.
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