Zach Peploe 23

Description

A 21-year-old from Somerset has been jailed for underage sexual activity with schoolgirls. Zach Peploe was aged 17, 18 and 19, when he targeted five girls aged between 12 and 14.

He pestered some of the young girls on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat and sent them naked sexualised videos of himself. He told others they were beautiful and he loved them before having sex at his house or in his car.

Taunton Crown Court was told his vulnerable victims were all upset following their encounters with him. They now suffer flashbacks, anxiety and find it hard to trust men. One self-harmed and another tried overdosing due to the trauma.

Peploe, of Huntspill Road, Highbridge, has been jailed for three years and ten months. A probation report said he had shown little remorse, was immature and came from a difficult background.

The defendant pleaded guilty to nine offences against five victims. The offences included engaging in sexual activity with a child and causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity.

The offences included groping a 14-year-old's breasts after she fell asleep in his car when he was aged 17. Another victim was aged just 12 when he sent her videos of himself masturbating. He was 18 when he "begged her" for naked pictures on Instagram, told her she was beautiful and sent her sexually explicit messages, said prosecutor Ms Nikki Coombe. The victim said the contact "made her feel sick".

A distressed third victim told her teacher she had sex with Peploe when she was 14 and he was 18. She had felt pressured into doing it.

Peploe carried on offending after being released under police investigation. He targeted two more girls. One 14-year-old consented to sex with him at his house having felt too frightened to say no. When she told him how old she was he said "cool" and bragged about how many times he had had sex. He also had sex with another girl when she was 13 and 14 and he was 19.

When police investigated his phone they found he had been contacting hundreds of girls a month on Facebook and trying to chat.

Mr Harry Ahuja, defending, said Peploe was a 'vulnerable young man' himself. He had a borderline personality disorder and did not come from a stable background. He had been making good progress since his arrest. He said Peploe never lied about his age to the girls or forced the victims into sex or sexual activity.

Judge Paul Cook made restraining orders not to contact victims and Peploe was given a 10-year sexual offences behaviour order to manage his risk once he is back in the community.

Peploe must also sign the sex offender register for an indefinite period.