Judge Wells said Buckmaster admitted that he “feigned interest in nudism” as a way of encouraging young girls, including the victim, to take off their clothes.
“He was motivated by a sexual interest and he pursued this complainant ruthlessly,” she said.
“It would seem to me that he well knew the harm that he was inflicting, but was incapable of controlling himself.”
Buckmaster told a psychologist he wanted to be surgically castrated, but Judge Wells said he “has made no steps” to start this process while in custody, such as approaching Justice Health.
He was previously jailed for nine years for the aggravated indecent assault of three other children, two of whom he used to make child abuse material. He was not released on parole because he had not completed a jail program for sex offenders.
Judge Wells said Buckmaster, who later completed the sex offender program, wrote in a letter to the court that he had done “some abominable things”.
He told a psychologist he continued to struggle with deviant sexual thoughts in custody.
The psychologist diagnosed him with persistent depressive disorder, paedophilic disorder and avoidant personality disorder.
Judge Wells said it is clear Buckmaster “retains the urges that led him to this position”, despite there being “substantial changes” to his behaviour.
In a victim impact statement, the girl detailed specific instances of how the abuse has significantly changed her life. She said she began to self-harm afterwards and also attempted to take her own life.
“There is no doubt that she’s suffered immensely as a result of the three years of serious sexual abuse,” Judge Wells said.
Buckmaster watched his sentence remotely from jail in Goulburn.
He will be eligible for parole in January 2026.
Georgina Mitchell is a court reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.
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