Pervert jailed for harassing teen online
A PAEDOPHILE sent “worryingly graphic” messages to a girl on Instagram who told him she was only 15 and asked him to leave her alone.
Nick Cowdry, 53, told the teenager he was sexually interested in her, despite knowing straight away that she was a child, and he persistently sent her messages which became increasingly explicit.
Speaking at Cardiff Crown Court, prosecutor Matthew Cobbe said: “As much as she tried to get rid of him, he would not leave her alone.”
The court heard the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was 15 when the defendant started sending her messages on January 6.
Prosecutors said he lied and told her he was 10 years younger than he actually was, but did not disguise his name.
“He told her he was sexually interested in her,” said Mr Cobbe.
Cowdry said to the victim: “I’m looking for sexual friends.”
She replied: “Look, I don’t know what’s going through your head, but I’m 15, it’s not going to happen.”
Prosecutors said his messages were sexual from the start, but became “increasingly explicit”. The girl replied with a vomiting emoji.
The court heard she showed the messages to her father, who was “totally disgusted” and called the police.
Officers made inquiries to identify him and went to his home in Bridgend. They seized his phone and took him to the police station.
In his interview, Cowdry accepted he was responsible for the messages, but said he could not remember why he started messaging the girl, who he did not know.
He told officers a lot of people wanted to follow him on Instagram and he did not usually talk sexually to girls.
The defendant said he could go into “self-destructive mode” when he had been drinking and may have been drunk from the night before.
Prosecutors said he had four previous convictions and was judged by the Probation Service to present a high risk of reconviction and a high risk of harm to girls.
Cowdry, from Broadlands in Bridgend, admitted engaging in sexual communication with a child.
Neil Evans, defending, said he had no similar offences on his record – they were mostly driving offences – and this was his first time in the crown court.
He said Cowdry cared for elderly parents and asked the judge to suspend any prison sentence.
But Judge Jeremy Jenkins said: “I cannot do that. In my judgement a suspended sentence is not appropriate. It seems to me that nothing short of an immediate custodial sentence is appropriate for your offending in this case.”
He referred to the “persistent nature” of the messages and their “worryingly graphic detail”.
Cowdry was jailed for 10 months, given a five-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and ordered to register as a sex offender.