A Swindon man who sent inappropriate messages to a child over Snapchat has been sentenced.

Christopher Ladbrooke, 35, of Godolphin Close, Freshbrook, pleaded guilty to engaging in sexual communication with a child at Swindon Magistrates Court on October 14.

Mr Ballinger, prosecuting, said that between November 1, 2023 and November 22, 2023, Ladbrooke sent a friend request to the teen via Snapchat, who he knew was 15 years old, and sent flirty messages such as “I don’t want to be good, I want to be naughty with you.”

Ladbrooke was then challenged by the teenager’s mother and he said he was "confused" and “trippy” due to taking medication for an ongoing health condition.

He claimed he did not remember how old she was regardless of knowing the girl since birth and said he did not remember sending the messages or adding her on Snapchat.

In mitigation, his defence said he regarded the girl’s behaviour as “flirty” when he saw her Halloween costume, as she was dressed "less heavily than she otherwise might be” and he also admitted that he would have still behaved in the same way had she been older.

The court heard that Ladbrooke had issues with alcohol up until the incident and he believed Ladbrooke was only a risk to children of people he knows and not a risk to the wider public generally, as he was not going out of his way to add underage children on social media and engage in sexual communications with them.

The Magistrate said: “This isn’t a person who has been out there on the internet looking for people.

“The comments were unpleasant and upsetting but he did immediately apologise.

“He’s not a person dedicated to grooming children and it was an inexplicable lack of judgment.”

She told him: “Offences like this are serious. She is a child and how she presents is no relevance really and shouldn’t be.  

“I appreciate that it has no doubt had a huge affect on your relationship with her family.

“Nonetheless when those kind of comments are made, there is an element of trust breached which is concerning.

“You’ve been truthful, you’ve been fair and honest which is all very positive.”

He was given a two-year community order, placed on the sexual offenders register for five years, ordered to complete 120 days of alcohol abstinence monitoring and ordered to pay a £114 surcharge.

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