PONTEFRACT MAN JAILED FOR ONLINE CHILD SEX OFFENCES
A MIDDLE-AGED man who attempted to persuade a 13-year-old boy to send sexual selfies and persistently contacted him with online messages has been sentenced to prison.According to York's top judge, individuals who behave in this way can cause children to become suicidal or suffer mental breakdowns.
Prosecutor Tom Doyle detailed how Ward, 59, was paired with a profile named "Jayden" on the social media site Randochat and began by asking about his age.
Once he learned that "Jayden" was 13, Ward turned the conversation sexual, moving it to SnapChat, which deletes messages after reading.
He repeatedly urged "Jayden" to send sexual images of himself.
Ward believed he was chatting with a schoolboy but was actually talking to an undercover police officer, leading to his arrest.
Ward pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including attempting to engage a child in sexual activity, attempting to view sexual content involving children, attempted sexual communication with a child, and possessing an indecent image of a child.
He was sentenced to 18 months in prison, registered as a sex offender for 10 years, and ordered to comply with a sexual harm prevention order.
The judge emphasized the seriousness of such online behavior, stating that only an immediate custodial sentence was justified and highlighted the potential psychological harm to children, including suicidal thoughts and breakdowns.
Ward was found to have sent sexual images and videos of himself to the child and kept trying to contact "Jayden" for nearly two weeks after initial contact was broken.
Police recovered social media accounts and an image depicting child sexual abuse from his devices.
The defender noted that Ward had no prior offenses and was suffering from a spinal condition that required treatment, with his personal circumstances having recently changed.
