Man sent explicit images to ‘girl’ who was police officer

A 24-year-old man who bombarded what he thought was a 13-year-old girl with sexual messages and explicit images on Snapchat has been handed a suspended prison sentence – after it emerged his target was actually an undercover police officer.

Cardiff Crown Court heard how Jacques Fletcher struck up a conversation with a decoy posing as a teenager called Maisy during the summer of 2024. Despite being told her age from the outset, he quickly steered the exchange in a sexual direction.

Over the weeks that followed, between July and August, Fletcher told the supposed child she was “sexy” and asked her for pictures. Prosecutor Clare Wilks outlined how he continually “sexualised” their chats, at one point sending a shirtless photo of himself captioned “You ever send nudes?”

His behaviour escalated significantly. Fletcher gave the decoy graphic instructions on how to perform sexual acts, sent her a video of a woman masturbating, and forwarded images of his erect penis. He urged the supposed teenager to remove her underwear and penetrate herself, even sending a video of himself to demonstrate what he wanted her to do. He also spoke about her “getting her fingers wet”.

Officers executed a warrant at Fletcher’s then address in Newport at 7.40am on August 22, 2024, seizing a Samsung phone containing relevant material. Investigators also confirmed that the background visible in the videos matched the defendant’s bedroom.

Now living at Cil Hendy, Pontyclun, Fletcher admitted three charges – attempting to cause/incite a child to engage in sexual activity, attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, and attempting to cause/incite a child to look at an image of sexual activity. The court was told he had no previous convictions.

His barrister, Sol Hartley, told the court his client has autism and mental health difficulties, and pointed to his “difficult background”. He argued that a custodial sentence would “tear the rug from under (Fletcher’s) feet” and highlighted that many similar cases involved far larger age gaps between defendants and decoys.

Judge Christopher Felstead sentenced Fletcher to eight months in prison, suspended for 18 months. He must also complete a 26-session programme requirement, a 10-day rehabilitation activity requirement, and 150 hours of unpaid work. A Sexual Harm Prevention Order and sex offender notification requirements were imposed for 10 years.