MAN SENT 'GRAPHIC' MESSAGES ABOUT RAPING YOUNG GIRL DURING COMMUNITY SERVICE
A man sent "graphic" messages about raping a young girl to someone he had met while carrying out community service, a court has heard.Jamie Aston said he wanted to watch the abuse take place.
Aston's barrister told Swansea Crown Court the offence had been committed at a time when his client was heavily addicted to cocaine and that the messages had been sent, in part, to "shock" the other man.
Ian Wright, prosecuting, told the court that in May last year Aston sent a series of messages to a man he had met while carrying out community service.
He said in the messages the defendant talked about watching the other man rape a young girl.
The court heard Aston used explicit language in describing the imagined sex acts.
The prosecutor said the recipient was so concerned that he took screengrabs of the messages and contacted police.
Aston responded by deleting his Facebook profile.
When police went to arrest him, he discarded his phone but officers recovered the device.
He answered "no comment" during police interview.
Jamie Aston, formerly of Arthur Street, Blaengwynfi, Afan Valley, had previously pleaded guilty to sending a message with intent to cause distress or anxiety.
He had a previous 15-month suspended sentence for theft and handling stolen goods involving stolen saddles and tack from horse shows and equine centres in Chepstow, Bolesworth, and Coventry.
The court heard Aston was heavily addicted to cocaine at the time of the offense but claimed there was no intention to act on the messages, which were sent to "shock" the recipient.
Judge Geraint Walters stated that despite the sexual nature of the messages, the offense was malicious communications, not a sexual one.
Aston admitted to being "pie-eyed" when sending the messages.
He was sentenced to four months in prison, suspended for 18 months, with a £500 fine for breach of his previous suspended sentence.
The judge noted that a standalone suspended sentence was appropriate in this case.
