OWEN CRITCHLEY JAILED IN SWINDON FOR SEX OFFENCES AND GROOMING
In February 2014, Owen Critchley was sentenced to prison after targeting a 13-year-old boy with inappropriate messages following an incident in the Swindon library.Critchley, who was only six months into a suspended sentence for previous child sex offences, contacted the boy after overhearing him tell a friend in the library's HeadSpace area—designated for under-16s—that he might be gay.
When the boy left the library, he received a Facebook friend request from Critchley.
The child recognized Critchley's profile picture as the man in the library and accepted the request, which Critchley said he got via a mutual acquaintance.
They exchanged phone numbers, and despite the Facebook profile claiming he was 16, the boy quickly clarified via text that he was only 13.
During their online communication, Critchley sent the boy a topless photo of himself.
He also admitted to the boy that he was older, texting, “I know it is wrong to talk to you as you are only 13 and I am 19,” although he was 24 at the time.
The exchanges continued until a female friend of the boy saw the messages and intervened, calling Critchley a “dirty paedo.” Critchley responded, “Please don’t tell the police.” Subsequently, he was arrested a few days later.
Although initially denying contact with the boy, Critchley later confessed to the police.
Critchley, living at a hostel on Croft Road, also admitted to breaching a sexual offences prevention order that prohibited him from having unsupervised contact with children.
He was previously convicted at Salisbury Crown Court of two sex offences and two grooming offences, and had been given a suspended prison sentence.
In that previous case, a jury found Critchley guilty of falsely claiming to be 17 to a 14-year-old in 2011 and engaging in sexual activities with the boy through online contact, including Facebook and other social networks.
The court heard that Critchley's defence argued he had ended contact with the child in Swindon and claimed he had no intention of having sexual contact.
His lawyer, Greg Gordon, highlighted that Critchley had planned to start a sex offender program shortly after his arrest and that he was struggling to find work and was drinking heavily at the time.
Critchley was sentenced to a year in prison, with the 18-month suspended sentence to run concurrently.
He was also ordered to register as a sex offender for life, and the existing breach of the sexual offences prevention order was upheld.
