Australian Woman Pleads Guilty to Solicitation of a Minor
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DOWNTOWN JACKSON — An Australian woman accused of sending nude photos of herself to a minor pleaded guilty, Wednesday. Rianne Gysberts, 31, of Frankston, Victoria in Australia, entered her plea in Madison County Circuit Court, Division II, to a charge of solicitation of a minor to observe sexual conduct. Gysberts was sentenced to two years of unsupervised probation and must pay a $500 fine. She was ordered to forfeit her laptop computer, iPad and two cell phones that Jackson police had seized as evidence. Gysberts will have to register with the Jackson Police Department as a sex offender. Investigators will then inform INTERPOL of Gysberts’ sex offender status. Police will also return Gysberts’ passport, and she will be free to return to Australia. On Sept. 27, a mother contacted Jackson police after she learned that Gysberts had inappropriate communication with her daughter online. The police department’s Special Investigations Bureau was notified, and investigators learned that Gysberts was in Jackson trying to meet up with the girl. Police set up a sting to lure Gysberts for an arrest. Around 2 p.m. Sept. 27, Gysberts came to McDonald’s at 1918 U.S. 45 By-pass in Jackson to meet the girl. Investigators were there waiting and took her into custody on the parking lot. Gysberts was transported to the Madison County Jail. Gysberts had been free on $30,000 bond and was ordered to surrender her passport as a condition of bond. The investigation revealed that Gysberts and the girl had been communicating via the Internet for about a month. Gysberts had traveled from Australia to Baltimore on an unrelated matter, and then traveled to Jackson to personally meet the girl.
