Kyle Pritchard, 25, of Maes y Mor, Abergele, tried to persuade a 15-year-old to send him photographs of herself
A man who posed as a teenager online using a fake profile picture tried to persuade an under-age girl to send him photographs of herself.
Kyle Pritchard, 25, pretended to be 17 and used a topless photo of a muscular young man with an American sports car in the background on his Facebook page.
Calling himself “John Jones”, he sent a picture of his penis to a girl of 15 and tried to persuade her to meet with him, Mold Crown Court heard.
When arrested, Pritchard, of Maes y Mor, Abergele, was found to have indecent images on his phone, which he had persuaded a 16-year-old girl to send to him.
He had also recorded her performing a sex act upon him.
Judge Rhys Rowlands jailed him for 22 months and placed him on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years.
A 10-year sexual harm prevention order was also made.
The judge said Pritchard had engaged in sexually explicit and wholly inappropriate messages with the 15-year-old.
She was asked to send images of herself, but had the common sense not to do so, the court heard.
Pritchard told her what he wanted to do to her if they met up, which would have involved sexual activity of a most serious kind, said Judge Rowlands.
The judge said it was clear from the pre-sentence report that Pritchard failed to appreciate just how wrong his behaviour was and that he had no real remorse.
“Teenage girls had quite enough to deal with, without the likes of you creating false Facebook profiles and trawling the internet for your own sexual gratification,” he said.
Prosecuting barrister Elen Owen said that one victim received a Facebook friend request from “John Jones” shortly after her 15th birthday.
The conversations between January and March last year quickly became highly sexualised, despite her telling him that she was only 15.
He said he was 17 and from the Manchester area, asked her what she was wearing, repeatedly told her she was beautiful and asked if she was a virgin.
The defendant asked her if she wanted a picture of his penis and, before she could answer, he sent her one.
He asked her to send pictures of herself and she said she would, but had no intention of doing so.
Pritchard asked her three or four times to meet and she was adamant they would not, but he continued to tell her what they would do if they did meet.
The girl’s mother saw the messages and contacted the police.
Arrested, Pritchard denied creating the false profile or using Facebook to contact under-age girls.
In a victim impact statement, the girl said she was scared of going out alone in case she met the defendant.
She had no idea what he looked like, but he knew a lot about her, including her real name, what she looked like, her school and the area where she lived.
She went out less, refused to go anywhere alone, and would worry that the defendant could be standing next to her and she would not know who he was.
Looking back, she was embarrassed that she had trusted a stranger who said nice things to her and made her feel good.
She had since changed her Facebook profile to “private” and only spoke to friends and family on it.
Defending barrister Kim Halsall said that it was Pritchard’s case that he had no intention of meeting the young girl.
He had ADHD and significant learning difficulties, and had been bullied at school.
He had limited social interactions and that led to him pretending to be someone he was not.
Pritchard admitted inciting an under-aged girl to send him images and possessing indecent images and movies.
Following the sentencing, DC Andy Edwards of North Wales Police said: “I would like to remind parents to be extra vigilant when it comes to their children using social media sites and ask them to make themselves aware who they are communicating with.
“This sentence should be a warning to people who are using social media as a platform to communicate with and take advantage of children.”
http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/police-warn-parents-conwy-man-12663193
