A Newcastle man has admitted sending sexual images of his genitals to who he thought was a 14-year-old girl while she was supposedly at school. David Richardson, 30, assumed he was chatting to the child online when he sent the explicit photos and asked for intimate ones in return.
A court heard that Richardson then discussed the explicit things he wanted to do to the girl and got her to view a picture of someone engaging in sexual activity. What he did not realise was that he was actually speaking to an undercover police officer, and he was later arrested.
Guilty plea at magistrates' court
Richardson, of Wood Grove, in Denton Burn, appeared at Newcastle Magistrates' Court to plead guilty to attempting to cause a child to look at an image of sexual activity and attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child. Prosecutor Ruth Forster said the case should be committed to the crown court for sentence.
She added: "The age of the victim was 14. There were images sent and requested, which were of a very sexual nature. Some of the images sent were when the defendant thought the victim was at school. I would invite you to commit this for sentence. Given the nature of the pictures sent and requested, it should be committed for sentence."
Sent to crown court
Magistrates agreed and sent Richardson to Newcastle Crown Court, where he will next appear on September 23. In the meantime, he was released on unconditional bail but must sign the Sex Offenders' Register at his local police station within three days.
