A guy from Wrexham has been incarcerated after engaging in sexual conversations with someone he believed to be a 14-year-old girl.
Kevin Griffiths, from Coed Aben, was sentenced at Mould Crown Court on Thursday.
The 51-year-old had previously confessed to two counts of attempting to induce a girl aged 13 to 15 to participate in sexual conduct, one count of attempting to initiate sexual communication with a child, and two counts of violating a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO).
Brian Treadwell, representing the prosecution, informed the court that the defendant was subjected to a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) in 2017.
It forbade him from utilising any website to communicate with anybody he knew or suspected to be under 16 years of age, as well as from transmitting unsolicited sexual photos to anyone.
He was handed a suspended sentence in 2020 for failing to comply with notification requirements under the sexual offences act.
In the current offences, Mr Treadwell explained that over the course of 10 days in January this year, Griffiths contacted someone he believed to be a young girl online, introducing himself under a different name.
He was told very quickly by the person he was speaking to that she was 14.
But in fact this was a decoy account, not a real child.
Despite what he had been told, Griffiths continued the conversation – which he turned increasingly sexual.
He went on to suggest the girl engage in sex acts and sent her a picture of his naked genitalia.
Police attended his home on January 16 this year and arrested him, seizing his phone.
Simon Rogers, defending, told the court that at no point did his client attempt to meet the girl he believed he was speaking to, and that the contact had been over a limited period of time.
“When one looks at the messages, he explained, “there’s no sophistication to them.
“In fairness to him, he has not sought to minimise his involvement – he accepts full responsibility.
“The conclusion of a psychiatric report states he is experiencing features of a persistent complex bereavement disorder, and there may also be the presence of a neurological developmental disorder.
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