PERVERT MR CHRISTMAS ASKED ‘13-YEAR-OLD SCHOOLGIRLS’ FOR SEX
Convicted sex offender jailed for 18 months after sending lewd messages and photos to undercover police officers
A SEX offender with the user name Mr Christmas asked undercover police officers posing as 13-yearold girls for sex.
Mihai Craciun, who has previous convictions for similar matters, contacted two profiles on social media platforms Kik and Snapchat.
Despite being told their age, Stoke-on-trent Crown Court heard the 43-year-old made it clear he wanted sex and sent them pictures of his private area. Now Craciun has been jailed for 18 months after a judge described him more as Mr Halloween than Mr Christmas.
Prosecutor Caroline Harris said Craciun was sentenced to 18 months in prison, suspended for 18 months, in May 2021 for sexual offences including attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act and attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.
As part of the sentence, he was made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) which meant he had to notify the police within three days obtaining a device capable of accessing the internet.
But in October 2023, he went on Kik and Snapchat and chatted to ‘Sophie’ and ‘Sofia’, who were in fact undercover police officers.
Miss Harris said: “He disclosed his real age and said he was from Romania. He said he lived in Stokeon-trent to one, and told the other he lived in Coventry.
“Craciun registered as ‘Mr Christmas 80’ and told Sofia he was 43 and from Stoke-on-trent. She responded she was 13.
“He responded, ‘I am looking for sex’, and sent a picture of his private area.”
The court heard he moved from Kik to Snapchat and continued to talk sexually to the ‘girl’, and said they would have sex in a hotel.
He sent her pictures of his privates and asked her to take a photo up her school skirt.
Craciun told the second decoy, Sophie, he was Mr Christmas. He asked if she was a virgin and asked if she wanted to lose her virginity. He again moved from Kik to Snapchat and sent lewd pictures.
When Craciun was arrested on October 31 he had a Samsung smartphone, which was seized by officers. Miss Harris added: “The phone had not been declared to his offender manager.”
Craciun, of Goldenhill Road, Fenton, pleaded guilty to two charges of attempted sexual communication with a child; attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act, and breaching an SHPO.
Paul Cliff, mitigating, said Craciun is obsessed with pornography and sexualised conversations with adult women. Mr Cliff said: “He slipped into communicating with children, or people purporting to be children. He is disgusted with himself for offending in this way.
“He is from Romania. He has worked in the UK for a number of years. His wife has returned to Romania. It is his intention to return to Romania on his release.”
Judge Michael Maher said: “You were ensnared by the police who were masquerading online as 13-year-old girls. Your user name was Mr Christmas. You were more Halloween than Christmas.
“Both were 13. It is plain this excited you and you were obsessed with the notion of having sexual intercourse with them.
“The previous offences in May 2021 were almost a carbon copy. The operational period of the suspended sentence expired 11 months before you committed these offences.
“I do not accept you slipped into communication with these ‘girls’. In my judgement you targeted girls of this age.”
Judge Maher made Craciun the subject of an indefinite SHPO and placed him on the sex offenders’ register for life.