Mother sent indecent photo of daughter to paedophile

A woman in her 30s has been sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court after admitting she sent photographs of her young daughter – including a Category C indecent image – to a convicted sex offender.

The case came to light in 2023 when West Mercia Police recovered images from a known paedophile’s device and passed the information to South Wales Police. Officers discovered the defendant had sent eight photographs of her primary school-aged child to the man, including one showing the girl half-naked on a sofa.

When police arrived to arrest her, the woman was overheard telling her children “mummy has been in conversation with a silly man who had got her into trouble”.

During her interview, the defendant struggled to explain her actions. She told officers that at the time, her relationship with her partner had been “poor” and she felt “lost”. She admitted she had “enjoyed the attention” from the man across the border.

Judge Paul Thomas KC described the offence as a “terrible breach of trust”, saying that sending such an image to someone she knew was a paedophile who wanted it for sexual gratification would be “wholly beyond most people’s comprehension”.

The judge noted it was fortunate the woman’s “pandering” to the sex offender was uncovered “before matters went further”. He acknowledged that any sentence would “pale into insignificance” compared to the lifelong burden she must carry for her actions and their impact on her family.

The woman, who cannot be named to protect her daughter’s identity, pleaded guilty to making and distributing an indecent image of Category C. She has no previous convictions and her children are no longer in her care.

Defence counsel revealed their client had been tearful during consultation, saying she had ruined her life. A psychiatric report diagnosed her with complex post-traumatic stress disorder.

She received a 16-month prison sentence suspended for two years, must complete a rehabilitation course and 150 hours of unpaid work. She will be a registered sex offender for 10 years and is subject to a sexual harm prevention order for the same period.