A 27-YEAR-OLD Trillick man sent lewd photographs of himself and explicit sexual suggestions to what he believed was a 13-year-old girl.
Stephen Robert Clements, of Keenague Road, was jailed for four months when he appeared before Omagh Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
Clements admitted attempted sexual communication with a child and attempting to engage a child in sexual activity between October 10 and November 1 last year.
The person receiving the message was not in fact a child but he believed it was a schoolgirl. On being informed that he was messaging a young girl, he said he was 18 before engaging in ‘grooming-style language’.
He asked the profile to be ‘cheeky’ and to forward an image to him. On receiving the image, he suggested her skirt was “too long” and to “undo some buttons”. His messages became increasingly explicit making lewd requests and he sent a graphic photograph of himself. He also engaged in graphic sexual dialogue.
Defence barrister Stephen Mooney told the court Clements had accepted the charges, and had not displayed similar behaviour in the past.
District judge Bernie Kelly said she did not think it was appropriate that the case went to the Magistrates Court, where her sentencing power was limited to six months.
Addressing the defendant, she said, “In my opinion you should go straight to prison. It is the only way people like you will be discouraged from communicating with a child in a totally inappropriate fashion.”
Clements was also make subject of a seven-year SOPO. He was told he must not communicate, work or be in the locality of children under the age of 16. He must also make disclosure to any person he gets involved in a ‘romantic or sexual’ relationship.
Clements was granted bail to appeal the sentence, and ordered not to possess or use any phone that can access the internet or have any contact with a child under 16. He was also ordered to stay away from any child-focused areas, such as schools and playgrounds.
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