The 37-year-old man appeared in the Bendigo Magistrates' Court on Wednesday where he pleaded guilty to encouraging a child under the age of 16 to engage in sexual activity.

The court heard the man was best friends with the girl's brother and was subsequently considered to be part of her family.

On December 3, 2020, the man contacted the girl over the social media site Snapchat.

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He sent her a message saying his "head was all over the place" before saying he would pay her $300 if she had sex with him.

The court heard the girl originally laughed off his message, thinking he was joking, but the man persisted.

He continued to try and solicit the young girl and when she refused, he offered to pay her $50 to find another girl for him to have sex with.

The man then said he would pay the girl $400 or $500, and sent her a photo of the cash laid out in front of him.

Later that evening, the girl went to her brother's house for a party and she disclosed the incident to him.

The family reported the offending to police and the girl provided a statement to officers on December 9.

The 13-year-old's mother underwent a pretext phone call with the man later that day.

He denied that he had sent messages to her daughter, saying he had instead been speaking to a different girl under the same name.

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The man was arrested on January 29 last year. During his police interview, the man said he knew the messages were inappropriate.

The 37-year-old said he had been drinking alcohol on the day of the offending, although he knew it was not an excuse.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, the girl said she had been taken advantage of by someone she trusted as family.

The 13-year-old said her mental health had deteriorated since the messages and she struggled to go to school.

Her brother said in his statement that he had been horrified to learn of the offending but he was so proud of his sister for being brave enough to report the abuse.

Defence lawyer Glenn Cooper said his client knew his offending was disturbing and he was deeply sorry for his actions.

Mr Cooper said the man had diagnosed mental health conditions including depression, and had chronic physical health issues after being involved in a car crash.

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The defence lawyer submitted that while the offending was serious, jail would be too burdensome for the man so a substantial community corrections order was more appropriate.

Magistrate Sharon McRae said the offending was "disgraceful" and the messages were "degrading and disgusting".

Ms McRae said the 13-year-old had been very brave in reporting the incident, knowing it would affect her family's relationship with the man.

"She never should have been put in that position," the magistrate said.

But Ms McRae said under the law, she needed to balance the serious offending alongside the man's personal circumstances.

The magistrate said she accepted the man had a number of issues that made jail an inappropriate sentence.

Ms McRae said she would instead have the 37-year-old assessed for a community corrections order. She said the order would be lengthy and involve a large amount of unpaid community work.

The case was adjourned to next week and the man's bail was extended to his next court date.

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