A Penrith man has been told he must sign the sex offenders’ register after entering guilty pleas to two child sex offences.
Stephen Prentice, 51, faced two charges when he appeared in the dock at Carlisle Crown Court this morning.
Prentice admitted intentionally attempting to cause a child — said on the charge sheet to be what he thought was a 13-year-old girl — to look at an image showing a person engaging in sexual activity.
He admitted a second charge of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child aged under 16 by asking for nude images of the youngster.
Both crimes were said to have been committed between April 5 and May 9 last year.
No specific details about the offences was given by the prosecution during the short hearing, and the case was adjourned for the preparation of a probation service pre-sentence report.
The court heard Prentice, previously of Ridley Court, Penrith, and latterly of Nicholson Street, Annan, was a man of previous good character.
He was told he must now sign the sex offenders’ register with immediate effect, the precise length of time to be set at the sentencing hearing.
This is due to take place on July 1, and in the meantime Prentice was granted bail on condition that he has no unsupervised contact with any child aged under 16.
Judge David Swinnerton told Prentice that being bailed was no indication of what the ultimate sentence would be. “All options are open, including custodial,” said Judge Swinnerton. “That will be a matter for the sentencing judge on the next occasion. It won’t be me.”
