NEWPORT SEX OFFENDER SENT EXPLICIT PICTURES TO 'TEEN GIRL'
A CONVICTED sex offender messaged who he thought was 14-year-old girl and sent her pictures of his penis.Prosecutor Ben Jones told Cardiff Crown Court that Asher Griffiths had been made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order in November 2020.
The five-year order banned Griffiths from using software that prevents a device from recording its history and from using profiles online that weren’t in his own name.
An undercover police officer posing as a 14-year-old girl on Chat Avenue was contacted by Griffiths on September 19, 2024.
Griffiths told the ‘girl’ he was 15, and asked her about her bra size, whether she was a virgin, and asked about her sexual experience.
The defendant asked the girl to send pictures of her breasts and feet.
When the decoy declined, Griffiths send pictures of his erect penis.
Police attended Griffiths’ home on February 5 last year and he was arrested.
His phone was seized and officers found Express VPN – a virtual private network which hid his IP address and concealed his internet history – whilst emails revealed he had an Instagram account under a name other than his own.
Griffiths, 26, of London Street in Newport, pleaded guilty to attempted sexual communication with a child and two breaches of a sexual harm prevention order.
The court heard that Griffiths had one previous conviction for five offences – including for possession of indecent and prohibited images of children, and possession of extreme pornography.
In August he suffered difficulties in his personal life,” said Ieuan Bennett, in mitigation.
The defendant tells me that was a one-off, and after that he desists from doing that sort of thing.
He added that police had conducted subsequent checks on his devices and not found any further illegal material.
Mr Bennett said Griffiths was “still a relatively young person” and added that his partner “has stuck by him”.
Recorder Christian Jowett sentenced Griffiths to a total of 16 months, suspended for 18 months, and ordered him to pay £1,000 in costs.
He must complete 200 hours of unpaid work, 15 days of rehabilitation activity, and the Building Choices accredited programme.
Griffiths must register as a sex offender for 10 years and a new five-year sexual harm prevention order was made.
