Caldicot man sent explicit photos to police decoy

A paedophile who sent pictures of himself naked to an undercover police officer he believed to be a 14-year-old boy has been sentenced.

David Samuel, 39, of Caldicot, began speaking with an account purporting to be a 14-year-old boy named Jaydan on the Chat Avenue platform in 2023. The conversation moved to WhatsApp and when the decoy confirmed he was 14, Samuel responded by sending a photo of his erect penis.

A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Friday heard the defendant asked the decoy for photos, and the account sent non-indecent photos of a face.

He told the decoy he was “horny” and asked him if he “wanted to see him masturbate” on a video call, but the decoy said he was with his mother.

When the decoy asked what the defendant wanted with him, Samuel said: “I just have to come lol.”

He asked to video call the decoy again and then messaged him “I am going to say bye, I just think I keep bothering you”. The defendant asked the decoy to message him if he wanted to “trade nudes”.

Prosecutor Charles Archer said the last message from Samuel said “Hi” but the decoy did not respond.

On 7 August 2023, police attended the defendant’s home and arrested him.

His phone was seized and was found to contain indecent images of children being sexually abused. These included 11 category A images, five category B images, and 26 category C images, depicting children aged between one and 15 years old.

There was also evidence Samuel had distributed a category A image to an unknown person, and was in possession of a prohibited image, an animation depicting child abuse.

Samuel, of Oakley Close, later pleaded guilty to attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, three counts of making indecent images, possessing a prohibited image and distributing an indecent image.

The court heard he has one previous conviction for motoring offences.

In mitigation, Tom Roberts said his client had been in employment and was a hard-working man, capable of “leading a law abiding and productive life”.

The barrister said the defendant had made a “serious error of judgement” and no longer has contact with his children as a result of his offending.

Judge Christopher Felstead said there was a “realistic prospect of rehabilitation” in the defendant’s case.

Samuel was sentenced to 20 months imprisonment, suspended for 24 months.

He was ordered to carry out a 25-day rehabilitation activity requirement, 150 hours unpaid work, and was made subject to sex offender notification requirements and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years.