DANIEL POVEY OF KINGSWOOD SENTENCED TO OVER THREE YEARS FOR ONLINE SEX OFFENCES IN BRISTOL

In September 2017, a man from Kingswood, Daniel Povey, was sentenced to prison after attempting to obtain explicit images of underage girls via social media. Povey used the online messaging app Kik to contact a profile he believed belonged to a 12-year-old girl. During their conversations, he repeatedly requested nude pictures and videos, even sending images of himself engaged in sexual acts. However, the girl he communicated with was actually a fake profile created by undercover police officers aiming to catch online predators.

When police arrested the 29-year-old, they discovered images of naked girls, some as young as eight or nine, on his phone. During his sentencing at Bristol Crown Court, Judge Mark Horton commended the police effort, stating: “This case results from a very important and effective police inquiry in an attempt to identify predatory paedophiles who attempt to seek out young, vulnerable girls on the internet. It is clear that it was planned by you. It is clear that on your phone you had ready-made recordings of yourself masturbating which you would send to girls. You had prepared stories for presentation on chat lines to young girls and those stories were the kind of lurid, highly imaginative fanciful sexual discussions and stories which were unrelated to reality but which you sought very soon during the conversation to start discussing with her, to suggest you wanted to do it to and with her.”

The court heard that Povey, of Tenniscourt Road in Kingswood, began contact through a Kik profile named Howling Wolf with a girl he called ‘Chloe’ on September 21 of the previous year. Chloe quickly revealed herself as a 12-year-old schoolgirl, prompting Povey to send her a premeditated sexual story. The judge described the story as “extremely sexual, even to an adult.” Prosecutor Julian Howells stated: “[Povey said] ‘How would you like me to do that to you’? The girl says she doesn’t know and the defendant continues ‘do you want me to show you?’”

Throughout their interactions, Povey sent the girl a photo of his erect penis and urged her to perform sexual acts on herself, even sharing a video of a woman engaging in such acts. The conversations persisted over several days, with Povey encouraging ‘Chloe’ to send nude images. It was revealed that ‘Chloe’ was an undercover police creation intended to expose online predators. In February, Povey was arrested, and police seized his phone, discovering images of naked girls, some as young as eight or nine, sent by unidentified minors.

Povey provided false details in his Kik profile, claiming he was an ex-soldier and giving his age and occupation. During police interviews, he acknowledged that “alarm bells were ringing” when ‘Chloe’ disclosed her age but insisted he “knows right and wrong.” Judge Horton emphasized the severity of such offenses, stating: “However interested young people are in sex, however they may want to be more mature than they are, these offences exist to stop children being sexualised at too early an age and being damaged. Had this been, as you believed it to be, a real 12-year-old girl, the damage to her, which would have been emotional, psychological, for that period, was likely to be extremely high.”

Povey pleaded guilty to six charges, including two counts of attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act, one count of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, and three counts of making indecent images of children. He was sentenced to three years and three months in prison, will remain on the sex offenders register for life, and is prohibited from working with children or vulnerable individuals ever again.