A talented football player has pleaded guilty to sexually penetrating a child under 13.

Cameron Nicholas Graham, 20, watched a video in Kalgoorlie District Court yesterday of a 12-year-old girl describing the moment he walked her into bush and sexually penetrated her.

During the interview, the girl said Graham had raped her.

Graham, pictured, plays league football for Kambalda in the Goldfields Football League and last year won the Len Stokes Medal as the fairest and best colts player in the GFL.

Defence lawyer Seamus Rafferty said Graham had also played for Subiaco reserves last year and had been approached to play again.

The court heard that between 8pm and midnight on December 30 in a southern-coast town, Graham was sitting on a couch with the 12-year-old before he walked her to bushland near her house and sexually penetrated her.

Mr Rafferty said Graham admitted to drinking alcohol and “stupidly took ecstasy” on the night the offence occurred, but accepted they were not mitigating factors.

He said the sequence of events that took place in the lead-up to the incident was consensual. “They went to the bushlands so they would not be detected by adults,” Mr Rafferty said.

“At all times he believed she was consenting. The most important thing is Cameron knew she was underage, she told him she was 14, but he knew she couldn’t consent to sexual behaviour.”

Judge Mark Herron said that, after reading the victim’s statement, he was under the impression she had been left traumatised and said he had difficulty believing Graham could have believed she was consenting.

Judge Herron said he needed to watch the victim’s interview video, even though he had read the transcript, to get a sense of how mature she was.

Prosecutor Shannon Walker said the victim did not appear mature for her age and presented as expected for a 12-year-old.

“She was traumatised shortly after the incident,” Ms Walker said. “The impact on her and her family is significant.”

Mr Rafferty argued Graham was an exceptional case because he did not have a “sophisticated upbringing” and the judge was “not dealing with a normal young person like in Perth”.

He argued Graham had not been exposed to an ordinary life compared with boys his age who had been brought up in Perth, and was not particularly well educated.

His “unsophisticated” upbringing meant that while he knew what he was doing was wrong because the law stated it was wrong, he was not aware of the impact his actions had on the victim.

The prosecution objected to Mr Rafferty’s claims of exceptional circumstances.

Mr Rafferty said that his client was not a sexual predator and his conduct was very immature, opportunistic and poorly thought through.

The case was adjourned and Graham was released on bail to return for sentencing on Friday.