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Facebook predator Natalia Burgess jailed

By Patrice Dougan

Facebook predator Natalia Burgess in the Manukau District Court. Photo / Richard Robinson
Facebook predator Natalia Burgess in the Manukau District Court. Photo / Richard Robinson

A Facebook predator who duped teenage boys into online relationships has been sentenced to two years and two months in prison.

Natalia Burgess, 29, was sentenced in Manukau District Court this morning.

She had previously admitted two charges of obtaining by deception and one of interfering with a computer system.

According to the agreed summary of facts the Auckland woman created several personas of females aged 18 to 20 on Facebook and Bebo.

She used the profiles to communicate with teenage males and request access to their social media and bank accounts.

In April 2008 she began a relationship with a 16-year-old, who cannot be named, communicating with him by phone and social media. At the time, Burgess was 24.

Burgess gave him money to top up his cellphone and asked for access to his Facebook account so she could update his relationship status.

After several months she told him she had a daughter and asked for money to help with her care. The victim and his mother gave Burgess $379.

The summary said Burgess did not have a daughter.

She also asked for access to the boy's bank account, and when he refused said she wouldn't repay any money.

In 2011, she began a relationship with a 13-year-old boy, pretending to be a girl aged 16 to 18. She was 27 at the time.

She never met the boy but communicated by phone and social media.

After about four weeks she became angry with him, accessed his Facebook account without permission and sent messages to his friends pretending to be him.

Burgess changed his password, denying him access to the account, before returning control after a few days.

She also pleaded guilty to a charge of obtaining by deception after going to a Wellington home for young pregnant women in 2006 when she wasn't carrying a baby.

Burgess was given permission to live there but did not keep up with her living costs. When asked to provide evidence of her pregnancy she produced a false doctor's letter.

She was asked to leave, having accumulated a $1400 debt.

The summary said Burgess told police she could not remember parts of her life due to being a heavy drug user.

- APNZ

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