NOTTINGHAMSHIRE AMAZON WORKER SENTENCED FOR ONLINE SEXUAL ABUSE OF 14-YEAR-OLD GIRL
An Amazon worker from Nottinghamshire began an online relationship with a vulnerable underage girl who sent him sexually explicit photographs of herself.Nottingham Crown Court heard how, during their conversations, Joshua Smith threatened to rape the teenager and come to her house.
The 25-year-old also Facetimed the girl, asking her to lift her top up and stand up to show him her bottom while he touched himself in his car.
His behaviour was uncovered when the girls' father found messages on her phone and contacted the police.
Handing him a 16-month jail term, suspended for two years, Recorder Balraj Bhatia KC said: “You knew she was 14, you knew she was vulnerable and particularly vulnerable because she told you she had been sexually abused.
It is plain you had a sexual interest in the victim and even though you had been to university, I accept you are emotionally immature.
It is my view these were the actions of an immature man who struggled to form relationships.” Dawn Pritchard, prosecuting, said the defendant and victim began messaging each other over Snapchat and over the course of a year moved their conversation to other social media channels such as WhatsApp and Facetime but never actually met in person.
She stated that she told him she was 14 and he said he was 22, initially appearing to have innocent conversations which later turned sexual.
The girl, who lived in Gloucestershire, shared her personal information and their chats became sexual, with her sometimes arguing and being threatened by him to visit her house, which frightened her.
The girl also reported that she was sometimes asked to strip and show her body, and that Smith often asked her to do these acts over FaceTime while touching himself.
When he was in his car, he would ask her to stand and turn around to see her bottom, and he would ask her to remove her top; he also opened his trousers and touched himself, warning her not to tell anyone.
Smith was arrested and initially claimed he believed the girl was aged 16 or older, but he later pleaded guilty to causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and engaging in sexual communication with a child.
He has no previous convictions.
The judge ordered him to attend 15 rehabilitation sessions, complete an accredited course, pay £1,500 prosecution costs, and imposed a five-year sexual harm prevention order.
He is also required to sign the sex offender register for the next 10 years.
