Man jailed for attempts to groom ‘schoolboy’
A MAN spent weeks engaged in highly sexual conversations with someone he believed to be a schoolboy, a court has heard.
Paul Nixon sent incident photos and videos and hundreds of messages to the person, who was in fact an adult posing as a 15-year-old boy.
Nixon discussed meeting the child for sex and on two occasions went so far as to book taxis to get him to the proposed rendezvous in Carmarthen before cancelling the arrangements.
Swansea Crown Court heard the offending took place in September and October of 2019 after the 42-year-old defendant contacted a profile on the networking and dating website Grindr.
Robin Rouch, prosecuting, said there was no age shown on the profile but in initial conversations the person running it told Nixon he was a 15-yearold boy. The court heard the pair exchanged numbers and began messaging each other on Whatsapp.
The prosecutor said from early on in the conversation it was made clear the respondent was aged 15 but “that did not deter him [Nixon] from sending a picture of himself in his underpants”.
Over the following weeks some 900 Whatsapp messages were exchanged along with dozens of texts, with Nixon telling the ‘boy’ he wanted to kiss and cuddle him and wanted sex.
The pair discussed meeting in Carmarthen for sex but on both occasions they planned to meet Nixon cancelled his taxis ahead of time and made excuses about why they could not get together.
The court heard the defendant told the decoy he had “bought lube” and would be “gentle” with him and he sent the supposed teenager a series of indecent and intimate photos and videos of himself. He asked for similar material in return. Nixon also told the 15-year-old to delete the messages and pictures because the defendant said he would get into trouble if they were discovered.
On October 10 the person running the decoy went to the police with copies of the messages and the following day Nixon was arrested at home and his electronic devices were seized.
Nixon, of Rhydlewis, Ceredigion, pleaded guilty to attempted sexual communication with a child under 16 and to attempting to meet a child under 16 following sexual grooming. He has one previous conviction for a drink-driving matter.
Dyfed Thomas, for Nixon, said the defendant accepted he had an alcohol problem and the offending had taken place while his client was in drink. He said Nixon was now taking steps to address the issue and had cut the number of units he was consuming every day from 40 to 20.
The barrister said the defendant had no previous convictions for like matters, the offences were “attempts” rather than the completed offences, and Nixon was ashamed and remorseful for his actions.
Recorder John Philpotts said it was clear the defendant had known what he was doing as evidenced by his concerns about being caught and the instructions to delete messages.
He said he had listened carefully to the submissions from Nixon’s barrister and had in mind the relevant sentencing guidelines, and had decided “my public duty drives me to the conclusion that these sentences must be served immediately”.
Giving the defendant a discount for his guilty pleas, the judge sentenced him to 30 months in prison. Nixon will serve half that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.
The defendant was made the subject of an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and will be on the sex offenders’ register for the rest of his life.