A U.S. sailor arrested in Australia for allegedly having an online sexual conversation with a detective posing as a 14-year-old girl was granted bail Tuesday under strict conditions.
However, Petty Officer 2nd Class David Wayne Budd, accused of violating a law that prohibits using the Internet to groom a person younger than 16 for sex, remained in jail Wednesday as officials weighed their options.
Parramatta Magistrate Paula Russell granted Budd a $1,000 bail on condition that a U.S. Navy official post bond and that Budd remain in New South Wales until his next court date Aug. 6.
Russell also stipulated that Budd must report to the local police’s Child Protection Unit every Monday, Wednesday and Friday upon establishing residence; that he not contact any nonrelatives younger than 16; and that he not use the Internet for anything other than his employment or to contact his family in the States.
“Budd is still in the hands of the Australian authorities and will remain there until all of the conditions of his bond can be worked out,” said Mary Scholl, spokesman for the U.S. Consulate to Australia, during a phone interview Wednesday.
One of the holdups, according to a spokesman at the New South Wales Attorney General’s Office, is that Budd was having trouble finding “someone acceptable” to post the bond.
An acceptable person in this case, the spokesman said, is “someone from the U.S. military.”
According to a Navy instruction regarding status of forces policies, the Navy is authorized to bail him out of jail.
The instruction reads: “Bail or bond to secure the release of personnel from foreign confinement before, during, or after trial may be furnished in all criminal cases.”
But it was unclear whether the Navy was going to post Budd’s bail by Thursday morning. Navy officials are referring media queries to the U.S. consulate.
In the meantime, the U.S. Navy has requested Australian authorities to waive jurisdiction in the case, Scholl said.
Budd, an electronic technician with the Navy’s San Diego-based Southwest Regional Maintenance Center, was in the country participating in a U.S.-Australia military exercise.
According to Parramatta police, he flew from Rockhampton, where he was participating in the exercise, to Sydney on Saturday thinking he would be meeting a 14-year-old girl. He was arrested at Kingsford Smith International Airport.
“We regret this incident and the impact it has on the otherwise very successful joint exercise,” said U.S. Ambassador to Australia Robert D. McCallum Jr. “Unfortunately these allegations against one sailor detract from the positive efforts of the vast majority of others.”
