Locations
Elias Street, Neath, Wales, SA11
Description
A paedophile who tried to groom a young girl on Instagram was caught after a mum became concerned about changes in her daughter's behaviour, a court has heard.
The mother asked to look at the schoolgirl's mobile and saw she had sent a friend a screen shot of a conversation she had had with a man on the social media site during which the unknown male had asked her for a photo, and discussed meeting. The mum subsequently contacted a so-called paedophile hunter group which took over the youngster's accounts.
Over the following weeks Jose Pardinez-Olea sent a series of sick sexual messages and requests to what he still believed was the 12-year-old girl he had originally been chatting to, including videos of himself masturbating and urinating. Sending the 41-year-old to prison, a judge told him he had no doubt he had intended harm to the girl.
Swansea Crown Court hard that in early 2020 the mother of a girl living in the county of Rhondda Cynon Taf became concerned about changes in the youngster's behaviour, including in the way she was eating and way she used her phone.
Dean Pulling, prosecuting, said the mum asked to see her daughter's mobile, and on the device found an Instagram screenshot the girl had sent a friend which showed a conversation she had been having with an unknown male calling himself Josh. During the course of the conversation Josh had asked the girl to send him a photograph of herself, and had mentioned meeting at his house in Port Talbot.
The prosecutor said the original conversation had been deleted but the mum was so concerned she synced her phone to her daughter's so she could monitor her social media activity. The man calling himself Josh continued to message the Instagram account, and the mother began to reply as her daughter until Josh sent a photo of his penis - at that point the woman contacted the police and a paedophile hunter group.
The court heard a member of the group took over the running of girl's accounts, and over the following weeks Josh - later revealed as Pardinez-Olea - sent a series of highly sexual messages as well as naked pictures of himself via WhatsApp. The court heard the defendant also sent photographs of scenes from pornographic films he was watching, videos of himself masturbating and urinating, and tried to get the youngster to perform sexual acts on herself.
The paedophile hunter group running the accounts then contacted a similar group in Wales who confronted Pardinez-Olea at his then-home address at Ynys Street in Port Talbot. Police were called and the defendant was arrested. Officers seized his phone, and also recovered a small amount of cannabis from the property.
The court heard police sent the evidence in the case to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for a charging decision in early 2021 but the file was returned as it was incomplete. It took another six months for the file to be resubmitted, and the CPS authorised charging in August though it was not until February 2022 that the defendant was charged via postal requisition. The prosecutor said the delay was "clearly not acceptable".
Jose Pardinez-Olea, now of Elias Street, Neath, had previously pleaded guilty to attempting to cause a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity, attempting to engage in sexual communication with a girl under 13, attempting to cause a girl under 13 to watch images of sexual activity, and possession of cannabis when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has one previous conviction for one offence, that of driving with excess alcohol.
Giles Hayes, for Pardinez-Olea, said the defendant's arrest had been a "wake up call" for him, and he had stopped drinking and taking drugs, and had returned to work. He said his client was keen to stress that his behaviour at the time of the offending had been effected by isolation, loneliness, and substance misuse.
Recorder David Harris noted that the author of the pre-sentence report concluded that with appropriate treatment there were good prospects of rehabilitation, but he told the defendant he had no doubt that he had intended to cause harm to the child he believed he was communicating with.
With a one-third discount for his guilty pleas Pardinez-Olea was sentenced to a total of four years in prison. He will serve up to half that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder to the community. He will be a registered sex offender for the rest of his life, and was made the subject of an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.