A Crowland man who was sexually explicit when privately messaging a 13-year-old girl has been given a two-year community order.
Jason Mark Church (20) must carry out a sex offender treatment programme and 30 days rehabilitation activity requirement days as part of the order imposed by magistrates in Boston on Wednesday.
He will also be subject to a five-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
Church pleaded guilty to engaging in sexual communication with a child between December 27, 2018 and January 11, 2019 at an earlier hearing.
The court heard that he soon knew the girl was 13 after connecting with her on Instagram.
The offence came to light after her mother spotted an alarming word on a message while the young teenager was on her phone.
Prosecutor Paul Wood said: “It was obvious [the girl] was doing something she shouldn’t have been.”
When the mum read the messages she saw that Church had asked her daughter when she was 16, getting the reply that she was nearly 14, and that he had asked her to “send him pics”.
“The mother was concerned. The girl is a very young 13 and she’s naïve and vulnerable in her mother’s view,” added Mr Wood. “There were fairly explicit messages and he was trying to propose that they should engage in sexual activity.”
Solicitor Beris Brickles, mitigating for Church, said his client was 18 at the time of the offence and was himself naïve and not experienced or confident talking to people, let alone females.
“Hopefully he will look for a woman more his own age,” added Mr Brickles.
Factory worker Church, of Reform Street, was also ordered to pay £170 in costs and victim surcharge.
