Indian-origin man charged with deceiving woman spared jail

An Indian-origin man in the Australian who was charged with deceiving a woman about his appearance on a dating website and then engaging in sexual activity with her, has been spared jail but his actions were criticised Wednesday by a judge as "selfish, immature and inappropriate".

Judge Patrick of the Victoria County Court in Melbourne told Deepak Dhankar Wednesday that his offence was serious and that he chose "this extremely selfish, immature and inappropriate way" to deal with the relationship difficulties he had with his wife at the time, the Melbourne Age.

"You were clearly aware of the importance of physical appearance and physical attributes in connection with internet dating and in the arrangements that you were making with the complainant," the judge said.

The judge said the victim's actions must also be "seriously questioned", and that the case was a warning for anyone who used dating websites or went online to meet someone for sex.

Dhankar, a man of Indian descent and of average build, deceived the woman into believing that he was a muscular, blond-haired Caucasian man named "Jamie" while chatting on dating website Oasis, the Victoria County Court in Melbourne heard Feb 10.

Dhankar, 29, and a father of three, pleaded guilty to the charge of procuring sexual penetration by fraud in October 2012.

Dhankar was convicted and put on a two-year community corrections order, with conditions he perform 200 hours of unpaid community work, undergo mental health assessment and participate in counselling.