ALDI ASSISTANT MANAGER JAILED FOR GROOMING UNDERAGE GIRL ON SNAPCHAT
A family-man who groomed an underage girl nearly a decade ago has been jailed.Dad Jonathan Cooper committed the offences in 2017, lying to his victims that he was 19 years old.
At the time he was in his 30s.
Cooper, now 43, groomed his young victim and asked the girl to send explicit content of herself to him using the social media platform.
He also send explicit pictures and videos of himself to the youngster.
But the girl’s mother saw some of the messages and content that was exchanged and deleted his account.
In September 2020 he was charged with two counts of causing a child to engage in a sexual act, causing a child to watch a sexual act, and engaging in sexual communications with a child.
Cooper, of The Avenue, in Blythe Bridge, protested his innocence but was found guilty by a jury in January this year.
Oliver King, prosecuting, said: “The defendant used Snapchat on a Samsung phone and added a girl.
They exchanged many messages of a sexual nature, snaps - or photos - of each other, and the defendant sent explicit photos of himself and requested for her to send [explicit] videos.
Her mum saw some of the messages and Snapchat deleted his account.
“He was arrested and interviewed and denied these matters.
There was grooming behaviour beforehand.
The defendant was dishonest about his age and there was a significant disparity in age.” David Farley, mitigating, added: “This incident has taken a toll on him in the last nine years.
His wife developed fibromyalgia - a painful disorder that has flamed up in the last two years - so he is her carer and does all the household chores and looks after their eight-year-old daughter.
“Since 2011 he has been the Assistant Manager in Aldi which he loves, he is well liked and he’s a hard worker.
His family support him knowing him as they do, they say he is an all-round good influence, helpful, friendly and a big part of their family.
He is described by his wife’s sister as a good husband and hardworking, he is family orientated and kind.
“This has had an impact on his mental health, he’s been very badly derailed by the verdict.
He is ashamed of his conviction and thought his family would be better off without him and he made a determined plan to commit suicide.
He’s someone who’s law abiding from the absence of any other convictions, and this will be his first time in custody.” Judge Graeme Smith sentenced Cooper to a 52-month jail sentence and he will have a Sexual Harm Prevention Order indefinitely.
He said: “I’m sentencing you following your conviction at trial for four offences, all arising for your communications with [a girl].
You still protest your innocence in the matter and have done throughout, you may have genuinely persuaded yourself you're innocent, however the evidence is overwhelming in relation to your guilt.
“Although police didn’t locate the Snapchat account on your phone, they found a photo of your penis on her phone and the prosecution’s case was overwhelming.
The communication proceeded for a few months and it was highly sexualised communication, there was grooming behaviour, and you lied about your age and reported yourself to be 19.
Still and moving images were exchanged."
