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23
Dec
Online child groomer from Moor Monkton jailed
A Moor Monkton man has been jailed for 19 months for grooming a 15-year-old girl online.
George Michael Casson, 30, pretended to be a 16-year-old boy called Ty when he contacted the girl from Buckinghamshire
He was jailed at York Crown Court today (December 23) after pleading guilty to engaging in sexual communication with a child.
Casson was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register and issued with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
He pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing on November 7 just before he was due to stand trial.
The sexual communication occurred between 31 January and 31 March 2022 when he befriended the girl on the Litmatch social community app.
Not only did Casson use a fake profile to gain the girl’s trust, he then used two other fake profiles acting as Ty’s brother and another person who was a “gang member”.
He then repeatedly pressured the girl to send indecent images of herself. Threats were made to share the images with her family and her school if she refused.
Eventually the victim’s parents noticed she had become withdrawn and intervened when they saw the disturbing messages. They contacted police, and the suspect was traced to North Yorkshire.
Detective constable Bradley Bodfield, who led the investigation, said:
Casson denied being responsible for sending the messages until the day of the trial when he changed his plea to guilty.
He also failed to attend the initial trial date on 7 August this year and was circulated as wanted on warrant.
He went on the run and evaded the police for over a month and was subsequently arrested by Kent Police on 17 September.
Casson has shown not a shred of remorse for his disturbing actions and the terrible effect he has had on the victim. I really hope this outcome provides her with strength to rebuild her life.
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