Monmouth Sex Offender Jailed After Messaging ‘Child’

A 60-year-old Monmouth man has been jailed after sending sexual messages to someone he believed was a 12-year-old girl, but who was actually a police officer operating a decoy account. 📱

Alan Lewis, of Rolls Avenue, appeared at Cardiff Crown Court after pleading guilty to attempted sexual communication with a child and attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity.

Under the username ‘Biker’, Lewis contacted what he thought was a 12-year-old girl from Dorset. Despite being told her age, he continued to send increasingly sexual messages, requesting pictures of her in swimwear and school uniform.

Judge Richard Kember told the court: “Over time the chats became more sexualised. There was discussion of swimming naked and you asked if she touched herself. There were references to you squeezing her bottom and having an erection. You asked if she wanted to touch it.”

Lewis also discussed pubic hair with the decoy and instructed her to masturbate, expressing desires to perform oral sex and intercourse with her.

Police identified Lewis through his email address and raided his home in January 2024, seizing his devices. He gave no comment when questioned.

The court heard that Lewis also admitted failing to complete his yearly registration with police last December, which he had been required to do since 1997 when he was sentenced for kidnapping and indecently assaulting a female aged over 16.

With 30 previous offences on his record, including multiple failures to comply with notification requirements, Lewis claimed he had forgotten to register because he “had a lot going on” and denied receiving a reminder letter from his probation officer.

Defence barrister Owen Williams noted that Lewis’s last “direct contact offending” was in 2001 and argued that the risks he posed could be “properly managed in the community.” He added that Lewis had shown “insight” into his crimes and would take courses to address his issues.

Although Lewis claimed he didn’t think “anyone on the site was genuine,” he acknowledged his behaviour was “driven by sexual gratification.” Judge Kember considered Lewis’s health problems, including diabetes, and the breakdown of his relationship when sentencing.

Lewis received a jail term of six years and three months, of which he must serve four years and two months in custody. The judge also imposed an indefinite sexual harm prevention order restricting his activities, including internet use, and ordered the destruction of devices used in the crimes.