CONVICTED PAEDOPHILE SENTENCED AGAIN FOR ONLINE GROOMING IN CARDIFF
A convicted paedophile told his children “sorry, I’ve done it again” after police arrived to arrest him for trying to groom girls he believed were just 13 years old.Jean-Paul Sterckx, 49, had already been jailed for child sex offences when he struck again, making sexual comments to undercover police officers posing as young girls online.
Cardiff Crown Court heard Sterckx used messaging apps including Kik and Snapchat to contact the decoys, asking whether their conversations were secret before quickly turning the chats sexual.
He told the supposed teenagers he wanted to have sex with them and sent images of himself in his underwear.
In one message, he asked: “Are you into naughty fun?” Sterckx also asked the “girls” to send him pictures of themselves in their underwear and posed disturbing sexual questions, including asking about masturbation and whether one was still a virgin.
The court was told the conversations ended when he attempted to escalate contact further, including trying to make a video call.
Sterckx had previously been sentenced to 15 months in prison in 2015 for inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and for possessing indecent images of children.
He was also placed under a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, which allowed police to monitor his devices.
Despite this, he continued offending.
When officers arrested him, Sterckx said: “This is going to kill my father.” He later told his children: “Sorry, I’ve done it again – you’ll have to be strong for each other.” He later claimed his phone had been hacked.
Sterckx, of Grangetown, Cardiff, pleaded guilty to attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and breaching his Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
In mitigation, his lawyer said he was ashamed of his actions and described him as a hard-working man who ran his own maintenance business.
Recorder Christopher Felstead sentenced Sterckx to 20 months in prison, suspended for two years, alongside unpaid work, a rehabilitation programme, a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order, and more than £1,300 in costs.
