Sex Offender Jailed for Sending Explicit Content to Child

A convicted sex offender has been sentenced to 12 months in prison after sending explicit material to an underage boy and requesting indecent images of children in return. 📱⚖️

Gareth Jenkins, 40, from Blackwood, exchanged WhatsApp messages with the schoolboy between February and April 2024.

Cardiff Crown Court heard that Jenkins sent the child an explicit video featuring a woman and text messages saying he was “horny” while “soliciting for other images of boys and girls.”

The court was told Jenkins had previously been jailed for more than three years in 2016 for having a sexual relationship with an underage girl, with those offences committed in 2014.

Prosecutor Hashim Salmman explained this previous conviction was considered an aggravating feature in the case.

Earlier this year in February, Jenkins received a 20-week suspended sentence for failing to comply with sex offender notification requirements.

Defence barrister Jeffrey Jones asked for full credit for his client’s early guilty plea and noted that “drink is an issue and was an issue for the defendant.”

Judge Simon Mills did not hold back when sentencing Jenkins, calling his offending “depraved, appalling and horrendous.”

“This is an extremely serious offence,” the judge stated. “You have chosen this path for yourself. You have been assessed as posing a high risk to children.”

In addition to the 12-month prison term, Jenkins must register as a sex offender and was made subject to a 10-year sexual harm prevention order. He will also need to pay a victim surcharge upon release.

Gwent Police have declined a request to release the defendant’s mugshot.