A man has appeared in court and admitted engaging in sexually explicit online chat with who he thought was a 13-year-old boy.
In fact, Carlisle magistrates heard today, 33-year-old Rhys Alasdair Hexter was in contact with an undercover police operative between November 15 and November.
During this period there was illegal interaction between Hexter and the online profile of the child. This began on a chat room, then moved to Snapchat and had been catalogued in chronological order using screenshots and chat logs containing sexually explicit photographs sent by Hexter.
Appearing at the magistrates’ court, Hexter, of Hunter Rise, Beckermet, admitted one charge: attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, for the purposes of obtaining sexual gratification.
Magistrates concluded their sentencing powers were insufficient and sent the case to Carlisle Crown Court, where Hexter is due to receive his punishment from a judge.
He is due to appear there on May 21, and magistrates directed that a probation service pre-sentence report should be prepared in the meantime.
Hexter was granted bail with two conditions. He must not have any unsupervised contact with a child aged under 18 and must not reside or sleep at any address where a child aged under 18 is present.
He must also sign the sex offenders’ register with immediate effect — effectively keeping police informed of his personal details and settled address.
A judge will determine the exact length of time for which these notification requirements will apply at the sentencing hearing.
