Crawley online child sex groomer nabbed by police officer pretending to be teenage girl

Adam O’Sullivan, of Hunter Road, has been prevented from having contact with young people and restricted in his computer and internet use after being sentenced today (Monday, March 18), for inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, said police.

A spokesman said: “He believed he was talking to a 14-year-old girl but was actually speaking to an investigating officer posing as a teenage girl on Kik messenger.

“In May 2016 while living in Weybridge, O’Sullivan used the messaging app to entice the 14-year-old girl he thought he was speaking to, to send indecent images of herself to him.

“He also sent indecent images of himself.

“During their conversation he knew the user was underage but continued to request for various indecent images, they even discussed meeting up.”

He was also in online groups that were sharing indecent videos and images of children, added the spokesman.

O’Sullivan was charged with attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity and three counts of making indecent images of a child in July 2018.

He initially pleaded not guilty to all charges at Guildford Crown Court but changed his plea to guilty just before trial in February.

He was sentenced to 22 weeks in custody, suspended for 18 months, said police.

O’Sullivan was also given a seven-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

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DC Rene Murdoch said: “Thankfully O’Sullivan was talking to the police instead of an innocent child and no one was hurt.

“Due to our undercover work we were able to identify an offender, and he will now be prevented from having contact with young persons and restrictions in place around his use of computers and the internet.

“We work tirelessly in Surrey to keep people safe from sexual offenders who pose a risk to children. Some of this work isn’t always visible but rest assured it goes on.”