November 2012 ‘Singularly unattractive’ man groomed autistic girl online A MAN who groomed an autistic teenage Gwent girl to film sexual acts using a webcam was yesterday given a three-year community order. Judge David Wynn Morgan described David Mel Collett, 22, as a “singularly unattractive young man” and a sex offender. Collett admitted four counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity; two of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child; four counts of making indecent images of a child and possessing those images. Michael Jones, prosecuting, told Cardiff Crown Court that the under-age victim, who cannot be named, has high-functioning autism and described her as particularly vulnerable. He said that the victim joined a social networking site, where she spoke to the defendant. She told him she was under age and he said correctly that he was 20 and living with his parents in the West Midlands. At first, the conversations were fairly general, the court heard, but then the defendant told the girl he wanted to have sex with her, asked her to take her clothes off and to perform sexual acts via the webcam. He performed sexual acts himself on the webcam and sent an indecent photograph of himself to her mobile phone, the court heard. The victim told police that on three occasions she had recorded herself performing sexual acts and sent the videos to Collett, of Carl Street, Walsall. The defendant and the victim had an argument because he felt she was pushing him aside, so he threatened to find where she lived and “smash her house up,” Mr Jones said. The victim told her mother, she told police and they went to his home in the West Midlands and seized his computer. When questioned, the defendant claimed his computer must have been attacked by a virus and denied the acts, but when the computer was examined by the Hi-Tech Crime Unit, chat logs were found, along with videos of the victim. He changed his plea to guilty 17 days before trial, the court heard. Steven Thomas, mitigating, said Collett was not an immediate risk to children and described him as a “young, naïve individual who would benefit from education.”  ‘You deserve to go to prison’ JUDGE David Wynn Morgan said the defendant had known his victim was under age and on the autistic spectrum, and had committed a series of particularly unpleasant sexual offences. “She was frightened of you,” he said. “You deserve to go to prison. “If anybody thinks (a community order) is a soft option I recommend you observe it because it is extremely unpleasant.” Collett must complete a threeyear sex offender treatment programme in the community with supervision, as well as 200 hours unpaid work within the next 12 months. He was made subject of a Sex Offences Prevention Order, which means he cannot access the internet unless his browsing history can be checked by police, and must sign the sex offenders register.