Jake Brooks (Image: Gwent Police)
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A 30-year-old man who was already subject to a court order designed to protect children has been sent to prison after he was caught trying to groom someone he thought was an underage girl for a second time. No real child was involved in the offence.
The offence
Jake Brooks used the internet to contact a person he believed was a teenage girl aged between 13 and 15. The profile was in fact operated by members of Red Rose UK, a group that carries out decoy operations targeting individuals who attempt to contact children online.
Brooks, originally from New Tredegar in the Caerphilly county borough and now living on East Road, Tylorstown, in Rhondda Cynon Taf, was already bound by a five-year sexual harm prevention order at the time of the offence.
Previous conviction
That order had been imposed at Cardiff Crown Court in August 2022 after Brooks was found guilty of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and possessing indecent images of children. On that occasion, he had been caught communicating with an undercover police officer posing as a 13-year-old girl.
Prosecutor Nigel Fryer told the earlier sentencing hearing that Brooks had used the username ‘Brooksy’ and initially claimed to be 13 years old himself. After the decoy told him she was 13, he admitted his true age of 18 but carried on messaging her regardless.
Mr Fryer described how Brooks had asked the decoy to send nude photographs and told her he would “teach her stuff.” The prosecutor added: “He bragged that he had taught other young girls stuff.”
When officers from Gwent Police attended his home, they recovered 95 indecent images of children from his mobile phone and laptop. The material depicted victims ranging in age from six months to 13 years old.
Despite the severity of those findings, Brooks received a three-year community order and was required to sign the sex offenders’ register until 2027.
Sentencing
At Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court, Brooks admitted three charges: attempting to cause or incite a girl aged 13 to 15 to engage in sexual activity, attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, and breaching his sexual harm prevention order.
Recorder Paul Lewis KC sentenced him to 28 months in prison. Brooks must now sign the sex offenders’ register for life and will be made subject to a sexual harm prevention order with no end date.
