February 2017 Haverfordwest man admits trying to get teen to send indecent pics An online admirer attempted to blackmail a distressed teenager into sending inappropriate pictures of herself. William Thomas Rowe, 22, of Gerald Road, Haverfordwest, was due to stand trial before magistrates on January 30, but changed his plea before the hearing. He pleaded guilty to making seven indecent pseudo-photographs of a child on May 8, 2015, and sending a Facebook message conveying a threat to cause distress or anxiety in Haverfordwest on May 7. A charge of sending a message containing indecent photographs was dismissed. The court heard that a teenage girl from the Norfolk area had been persuaded to send pictures of herself in her underwear to another man via social media in 2014, which were then shared on the internet. Rowe, who didn’t know the girl, messaged her a year later after discovering the pictures online, and asked her to send an updated version. He sent a message saying he would send the original picture to her friends if she didn’t agree, then followed up with a third message saying he was only joking, adding: “lol, bet that scared you”, and offered a link for the images. The victim, who cannot be named, contacted the police, who seized Rowe’s computer and discovered a folder in her name and seven indecent images of her in underwear. Ellie Morgan, prosecuting, told the court the girl had been distressed and scared by the incident. She said: “Her confidence was really low and she could not stopped crying. She stayed in her room and could not talk to her friends about it.” A victim impact statement read to the court said: “I was in a real mess emotionally. He made me feel awful. I cut my legs with a razor several times because of this. “I do not feel I have got over this at all.” Jonathan Webb, defending, told the court that the entire incident lasted only around 120 seconds in total, and the third message stated Rowe was not going to do anything. He said: “The first message caused some anxiety and distress, the other message was saying ‘I’m really, really sorry’.” Sentencing was adjourned until February 20 for a report to be completed, and Rowe was warned he was required to register as a sex offender.