JACOB SMITH JAILD IN NEWCASTLE FOR ENGAGING IN SEXUAL CHAT WITH MOCK TEEN PROFILE IN WHICKHAM
Jacob Smith, a 39-year-old from Whickham, engaged in sexual communication with a profile claiming to be a 14-year-old girl on the Grindr app in September 2019.He discussed explicit sexual content and expressed a desire to take the girl’s virginity, encouraging her to skip school.
The court was told that the fake profile was set up by vigilantes from Guardians of the North, who created the decoy as a teenage girl but explained to Smith that she was a confused boy wanting to be a boy.
Newcastle Crown Court heard that the adult behind the false profile had created it to wait for contacts like Smith.
He initiated conversation with a message saying, 'hi beautiful.' Remarkably, the person running the decoy was Smith’s wife’s hairdresser, someone who knew the family.
The hairdresser recognized Smith instantly when he sent a photograph, and after confirming that he was in London on business, she contacted the police.
Smith, of Front Street, Whickham, Gateshead, denied attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.
He claimed he knew who was behind the profile and that his messages were sent for amusement when he was not thinking clearly.
However, after a jury trial, he was convicted of the charge and sentenced to eight months in prison.
Additionally, he is required to sign the sex offenders register and abide by a sexual harm prevention order for ten years.
The judge, Recorder Alex Menary, acknowledged that Smith was suffering from depression due to stress from work and personal issues but emphasized that only a custodial sentence could serve as adequate punishment.
He remarked, "By a twist of fate the decoy was your wife's hairdresser.
When you sent pictures of yourself she recognised you.
When she learned you were in London on business, she contacted the police." The court noted Smith's later claims that he knew it was the hairdresser all along and that he engaged in the contact for entertainment and distraction, describing this as a 'cry for help.' He also said he was not in a proper state of mind at the time and that he continued the communication because he feared it would reveal his actions to his wife.
Smith has since received treatment for his illness, but as a result of his offending becoming public, he and his family had to sell their home and now live apart.
Defence lawyer Philip Gibbs stated, "He was ill, to quite a considerable degree.
It wasn't a short-lived or trivial illness, it was a gathering storm.
He accepts the process and the verdict of the jury because that is justice."
