NORTH EAST PERVERT REMOTELY ABUSED EIGHT-YEAR-OLD GIRL IN AUSTRALIA IN 'HORRIFIC MESSAGES'
A pervert remotely abused an eight-year-old girl thousands of miles away in a series of "horrific messages".Simon Bell made contact with a child in Australia online and immediately launched into highly sexualised and graphic communication.
He got her to perform sexual acts and send him images of her doing so and sent indecent images of himself to the youngster.
Bell, who is described as a vulnerable adult with mental health conditions which contributed to his behaviour, has been jailed for 40 months after admitting a series of offences.
He was arrested in May 2023 when police visited his home, seized devices, and found a mobile phone containing sexual messages with the girl along with indecent images of her and other children.
The court heard Bell messaged the girl over three days, with 189 pages of communication.
Prosecutor Liam O'Brien described the messages as "horrific", noting that Bell referred to her as "sexy", asked her age, and sent images of himself.
When informed she was only eight, Bell's response was "Wow really, 8yo", followed by sexual remarks.
Bell falsely claimed to be 19 and expressed his love for her.
He described acts he wanted to do to her and encouraged her to do them, while sending at least seven category C images of her, including one of her in a school uniform and two category A images.
He also had 87 indecent images of other children, the youngest being three years old.
Bell, 32, had no previous convictions and pleaded guilty to multiple charges including causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, causing a child to watch a sexual act, sexual communication with a child, making indecent images, and breaching a sexual risk order.
He was sentenced to 40 months in prison, required to sign the sex offenders register, and placed under a 10-year sexual harm prevention order.
The judge stated Bell had sent the most disgusting, sexualised messages to an eight-year-old in Australia—"the youngest I have come across".
The defense argued he is extremely vulnerable, with autism spectrum disorder, and lacked understanding, claiming he was a child in an adult's body and unable to control his actions.
