HE styled himself as "Jimmy Beloved", the frontman of Newcastle screamo/electronica band Falling for Beloved and used his status as a musician to meet, groom and then sexually abuse more than a dozen girls aged between 12 and 16 over a nine-year period.
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Daniel "Jimmy" Hanson, now 34, would typically approach underage girls at his gigs, ask for their phone number, tell them they were "the most beautiful girl in the room" and then begin a text message exchange that gradually became more graphic and sexual in nature.
He would lie about his age, always telling the girls he was also underage or years younger than he was.
In reality, from the time he was about 18 until he was 24, Hanson "showed a sexual interest in young women under the age of 16", according to an agreed statement of facts, with seven years the average age difference between Hanson and his victims.
At one stage, when Hanson was 22, he repeatedly sexually assaulted a 12-year-old girl. After lying about his age, Hanson would shower the girls with compliments and then organise their bus and train routes so they could meet him in parks or stormwater drains near his house.
They would talk about music, the lyrics to his songs and then Hanson would sexually and indecently assault them, always telling them not to tell anyone about "their little secret".
On at least one occasion he urged a young girl to skip school to come and see him, while another girl who wanted to interview Hanson for a school project about the band was instead sexually assaulted.
If the girls didn't comply with his sexual requests or displeased him, he would make them walk home or cut off contact.
Hanson, appeared in Newcastle Local Court via audio visual link from Cessnock Correctional Centre on Wednesday and pleaded guilty to 23 counts of sexual and indecent assault against 14 girls aged between 12 and 22. The offences occurred between 2005 and 2014, according to court documents.
The most serious charges are two counts of persistent sexual abuse of a child, which carries a maximum of life imprisonment, and relate to two girls aged 12 and 14, who Hanson sexually abused for years while he was aged between 18 and 20.
Once charged with more than 100 offences after media attention triggered a flood of complaints and allegations, the DPP ultimately withdrew dozens of other charges as part of plea negotiations.
Hanson, who was represented by solicitor Mandy Hull, will next appear in Newcastle District Court next month to get a sentence date.
Hanson's pursuit for young girls appeared pretty relentless and during the period of offending he seemed to be speaking to multiple victims at a time. His method rarely changed; he used his status as a musician to speak to young girls, lied about his age, met them in an isolated location and then preyed on their innocence and naivety to get what he wanted.
And for the majority of the time he was grooming and assaulting young women, Hanson was the lead-singer in Newcastle band Falling for Beloved, styling himself as "Jimmy Beloved".
But one victim knew him as "Jimmy Atlantis", his new pseudonym after the band changed its name to We Build Atlantis.
Police received a complaint in 2019 and commenced an investigation, with a subsequent media release about the case triggering more than a dozen young women to come forward and make allegations against Hanson.
He was, it seems, essentially crushed by the tendency argument against him and pleaded guilty to a string of offences on Wednesday.