South Shields man asked if he could 'lose' 13-year-old's virginity in message to fake profile online

Kristoffer Cook sent a series of sexual messages to fake online profiles of two children on dating site Meet24 in July and asked one if he could take her virginity.

Newcastle Crown Court heard 'No Incognito', an undercover organisation that sets up decoy profiles to expose adults looking for underage sex were behind the accounts of ‘Alisha’ and ‘Lisa’, who Cook thought were 13-year-old girls.

At the time of the offences Cook, of Hobart Avenue, South Shields, South Tyneside, had just finished a suspended sentence order imposed in 2018 after he was caught by a group called Geordie Chasers for similar offending.

However, the 27-year-old was still subject to a sexual harm prevention order that had eight years left to run.

Prosecutor Ian Cook told the court that after contacting 'Alisha' on the app, he soon began engaging in sexual messages.

He said: "On July 9th the defendant contacted Alisha's profile, and was told she was 13 years old.

"The defendant replied saying she would hate him because of the age gap.

"The communication followed including 'can I lose your virginity' and 'what knickers are you wearing'.

"The messages continued in similar fashion until he replied saying could he text her instead.

"He was given a mobile number and sent texts with the same sort of messages."

Mr Cook prosecuting added: "The members (of No Incognito) recognised the defendant from his profile picture and they passed his information on to the police.

"Alisha was asked to pass on a contact for 'Lisa', and it was made clear very early on she was 13, and he sent similar messages such as 'can we sleep together'.

"The risk of very serious harm had the profiles been real people."

Cook pleaded guilty to attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and also breaching the sexual harm prevention order.

When police arrested the defendant the court heard his reply was 'I know I have done something wrong, I have been talking to someone.'

Kate Barnes, defending, told the court about that Cook has suffered with learning difficulties and lacked thorough support throughout his life.

She said: "He was bullied throughout his childhood and remains a vulnerable adult.

"He has an IQ of 54 which is extremely low to and he is not a typical sort of offender that the court typically sees in these cases.

Mr Recorder Chris Smith told Cook that the consequences of breaching such an order was too great to ignore and sentenced him to 12 months behind bars.

The judge told him: "You did all of this whilst subject to the sexual harm prevention order imposed in May 2018 and it still had eight years left to run.

"When you were chatting to one girl you started chatting to another and engage in the same sort of behaviour.

"Only an immediate sentence of imprisonment can be justified to get home the message that you must comply with a sexual harm prevention order.

"It is designed to protect people."

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