Man jailed over sexual messages with decoy girls

A man who believed he was talking to young girls when he sent sexual messages online has been jailed for three years.

Daniel Gibbs, 33, of Crown Close, Stowmarket, Suffolk, admitted six charges at Ipswich Crown Court, including inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and sexual communication with a child.

The court heard Gibbs had messaged four Facebook accounts purporting to be young girls aged between10 and 13, but which were actually run by adults acting as decoys.

Judge Emma Nash said Gibbs had a "distorted attitude towards children and sex".

Prosecutor Mac Brown said Gibbs had added the accounts and engaged in conversation that quickly turned sexual, where Gibbs sent images of himself and asked for photos to be sent to him.

The court heard that Gibbs had asked one of the decoys, who told him she was 13, to engage in a sexual act.

Judge Nash said that was the most serious offence.

Gibbs had told some of the decoys he was a swimming coach, when in reality he worked at a recycling centre.

He told the girls to delete the conversations as he could "get in to trouble".

Gibbs was arrested on 23 April at his home and said to officers "I'm going to prison, aren't I?"

He answered no comment when interviewed by police but pleaded guilty at his first crown court appearance.

He had two previous convictions for sexual offences against children, committed when he was 15 years old.

Defending Gibbs, his barrister Abigail Bright said that he had been "lonely and bored" but admitted he should have stopped all contact when he was told of the girls' ages.

The court heard he had "no intention to meet anyone he had contacted" and was "genuinely remorseful".

Judge Nash told Gibbs: "You do not consider yourself a danger to children; I disagree with you."

"If these were real children, which you intended them to be, they would have been caused significant harm by you," she said.

Gibbs will be placed on the sex offenders' register for life and a sexual harm prevention order was made for 20 years.

Wearing a grey tracksuit with a shaven head, he was told he would serve half his sentence in prison before being eligible for release.

Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.