A man in his early 20s sought sexual favours from a 13-year-old girl in lieu of payment for vapes, a court heard.

Cameron Lowther began messaging the girl on Snapchat when he was 21 and she was 12, and she initially just thought he was just being nice, complimenting her on her looks.

Durham Crown Court heard that knowing he sold vapes, she asked him to get her some, but rather than taking payment in cash he suggested she did something sexual for him.

She declined but after a later chance meeting, when he was visiting a supermarket, she got two vapes from Lowther, who suggested they should meet behind some shops, “for a kiss”.

(Image: Newsquest) Robin Turton, prosecuting, said in other messages Lowther would indicate what form of sexual act she could perform depending on the number of vapes he bought for her.

Mr Turton said the girl informed her friends of the nature of the messages from the defendant, but she did not tell her parents at that stage.

But, in January, she did disclose to her mother that she had received unwanted sexual attention from the defendant.

She showed her mother her phone on which some of the messages were found.

(Image: The Northern Echo) Screenshots were handed to police in which she declined Lowther’s offers, reminding him she was only aged 13 and he was, at the time, 21.

Mr Turton said aggravating features of the defendant’s offending were the persistent nature of it, and the fact that Lowther asked her not to reveal the nature of the messages.

Lowther, now 24, of Torver Close, Peterlee, admitted a charge of sexual communication with a child.

The court heard he has limited past offences on his record, only for driving and criminal damage matters, but nothing of a sexual nature and he has never previously been to custody.

Dan Cordy, in mitigation, said the defendant made it clear from an early stage in court proceedings that he would plead guilty.

Mr Cordy said while the nature of the offences meant it passed the “custody threshold”, the defendant has limited previous offending on his record and, given the constraints that could be put on him by way of court orders, it would give him limited future opportunity to repeat such offending.

“He has never been in trouble for this kind of offending.

“He has limited understanding of just how serious it is.

“I have made it clear to him, however, just how serious it is.”

(Image: The Northern Echo) Judge Deborah Sherwin told Lowther that having communicated with the girl over a period of time, the messaging became sexual.

“She was asking you for vapes and you were asking for sexual favours in return.

“You should never have made requests of that type to a girl so much younger than you at the time.

“You have acknowledged that now.”

Judge Sherwin told Lowther if he had been convicted after a trial, he would have received an eight-month prison sentence, but she would reduce it to six months to account for his guilty pleas.

“I bear in mind you are somebody with a number of vulnerabilities and difficulties, including ADHD and other matters set out by the Probation Service in the pre-sentence report.

“While an immediate prison sentence is an option open to the court, you would only serve a short term before release and little work would be done with you to address this type of behaviour.

“I have regard that for the greater good of the public action can be taken to prevent you from repeating this offending.”

She, therefore, passed a six-month sentence, suspended for two years, during which the defendant must take part in 45 rehabilitation activity days overseen by the Probation Service.

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Lowther was also made subject to restrictions over future contact with girls under 16s and controls over his use of the internet by way of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).

He was also made subject of registration with police as a sex offender.

Both the notification requirements and the SHPO will run for seven years.