Shropshire Star

Telford man posed online as 14-year-old boy to get girl to send pictures

A man in his late 20s posed as a teenage boy online to get a 15-year-old girl to send him naked pictures of herself, a court heard.

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David Clare, who is disabled and has learning difficulties, befriended the girl from Northamptonshire on social media site Kik by posing as a 14-year-old boy. She told teachers at her school after becoming concerned he was not who he said he was when he gave her two different dates of birth, Telford Magistrates Court was told.

Clare, of Woodcroft in Woodside, Telford, admitted three charges of inciting a 15-year-old girl to engage in sexual activity between August and December 2014 at a previous court hearing. He was sentenced by magistrates to a 12-month community order to include a 60-day rehabilitation requirement.

The 29-year-old was also fined £100 and ordered to pay £185 costs and an £85 victim surcharge.

Mrs Abigail Hall, prosecuting, said: "The victim was aged 15 at the time of the offence. The defendant was aged 27 at the time of the offences. Police got in touch with the victim, who provided an interview after she had expressed concerns to teachers a male she had been communicating with was not who he said he was. She believed initially she had been talking to a 14-year-old male called David Clarke.

"The defendant had asked her if she wanted to have phone sex, and asked her to send intimate photographs of herself. They engaged in phone sex two to four times a week."

Mrs Hall said Clare was arrested after police traced the mobile phone to him. Concerns had also been raised by the mother of another girl in August 2014 about Clare, the court was told. The prosecutor said the defendant admitted to having seven different fake Facebook accounts.

Mr Steven Meredith, for Clare, said: "He doesn't feel like he can form natural relationships because of the way he looks. It's a very sad situation. He had a very traumatic and difficult childhood and was bullied at school because of his disability."

He told how Clare had spent the last 10 years locked away in his bedroom at his parents' house on the internet and suffered from depression.

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