A man in his 50s paid a price for exchanging online messages of a sexual nature with what he believed to be a girl aged 13, even before the case even came to court.

Richard Reeves, who is of previous good character, sent a Facebook friend’s request in his own name to a profile of a girl calling herself ‘Jas’, in June this year.

Durham Crown Court heard that ‘Jas’ was, in reality, a fake profile posted by a member of the vigilante group, the Child Online Safety Team (COST).

When the defendant’s request was accepted it was soon made clear to him that ‘Jas’ was 13 and he told her he was aged 50, before asking her if she was “okay” with that.

Durham Crown Court heard that despite the disparity in ages he continued the conversation later after getting in from work, when he told her he wanted to talk about sex.

(Image: The Northern Echo) Susan Hirst, prosecuting, said the supposed 13-year-old replied, saying she did not know much about sex.

Reeves sent a photo of himself to the girl and requested a photo from her, before being sent an image of a teenage girl.

Having asked to transfer their conversation to WhatsApp he sent her an image of his genital area and asked for her to reciprocate.

She asked him if it was okay to do that and he told her it would not hurt anyone.

Miss Hirst said the girl then seemed to hesitate and said she did not know if she could trust him.

He continued to request intimate pictures of her, but when she would not comply, he blocked her on both Facebook and WhatsApp.

Miss Hirst said two days later members of COST went to his home address, then in Crook, and contacted the police.

Officers arrived and arrested the defendant, who, through his lawyer, issued a “significant statement” saying he did not know what came over him, but accepted he knew what he had done.

He agreed knowing the person he believed he was corresponding with was only 13 and that he had sent her an intimate picture of himself.

Asked why he had done it he said it was “stupid” and that he sometimes did things without thinking.

Reeves, 51, now said to be of Challinor Road, Hartlepool, admitted attempted sexual communication with a child.

As no girl actually existed, it is classed as an “attempt” in law and attracts a small deduction on the sentence that would be imposed compared to the full offence.

(Image: The Northern Echo) Calum McNicholas, in mitigation, said it was a “short-lived offence” which took place over a single day, with no desire to meet the person he believed he was communicating with during that time.

“There was no attempt to prevaricate, make excuses or minimise his behaviour.

“He made admissions when interviewed and his guilty plea was entered immediately.

“He had demonstrated an appropriate level of remorse and apologised for his actions.”

Mr McNicholas said the defendant has a level of diagnosed learning difficulty which, “is evident within conversation with him.”

But Mr McNicholas said: “I don’t say that excuses or explains the offence, but it gives a fuller understanding of the maturity of the defendant in this case.”

He said the offence has had, “a significant impact” on the defendant,  who has lost both his accommodation and his job in retail of 35 years, the last 20 of them within the same work team.

So, he’s already been subject of a significant degree of punishment.

But he said the pre-sentence probation report states that as a man of previous good character who had admitted the offence, there is considered to be, “a realistic prospect” of rehabilitation in his case.

Judge Nathan Adams told Reeves: “You are someone who regularly chats to people online and that’s perfectly fine as long as it’s with an adult, but on this occasion, you went far beyond that.

“Fortunately, on this occasion, there was not a real 13-year-old.

“It was a decoy, but it doesn’t diminish the harm you intended to cause.

“Offences like this can have a profound effect on real 13-year-olds and, so, matters of this kind are very serious.

“But there’s no suggestion you have engaged in behaviour like this before and there’s no suggestion of communications of a similar nature previously.”

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The judge said he believes any risk of similar offending can be managed in the community.

He passed a six-month prison sentence but suspended it for 18 months, during which the defendant must attend 40 rehabilitation activity days overseen by the Probation Service.

Reeves will also be subject to restrictions affecting his internet use for the next ten years under the terms of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, while he must register as a sex offender, also for ten years.