A convicted paedophile who sent explicit images of himself to someone he believed to be a 13-year-old girl has been jailed for 33 months.
Andrew Peters, 55, added a person he thought was a young girl named Millie on Facebook using his business account before their conversation moved to WhatsApp and became sexually explicit. Cardiff Crown Court heard that Peters sent a naked picture of himself, an image of a woman’s vagina, and a video of a woman masturbating to the decoy.
The defendant also encouraged the supposed child to masturbate herself and requested naked photographs before asking her to delete their messages. While Peters expressed a desire to meet the “girl” in future, no official meeting was ever discussed or arranged.
Judge Hywel James made clear that at no point was the decoy “goading” Peters, as he later claimed during his trial. Peters, of Cowbridge Road, St Nicholas, Vale of Glamorgan, was found guilty of attempting to cause a child to engage in sexual activity, attempting to cause a child to look at an image of sexual activity, and attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.
The court heard that Peters had previously received a police caution in 2008 for possession of a pseudo photo of a child. The image in question – described as a “baby with an adult penis superimposed on it” – had been sent to him by a work colleague “as a joke”. That caution resulted in Peters losing his reputation, employment, and relationships with his children and grandchildren, leading to low self-esteem and mental health difficulties.
During sentencing, Judge James stated that the defendant “sought to manipulate” the decoy during their conversation and had shown no insight into his behaviour. Peters was also made subject to sex offender notification requirements and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order indefinitely.
