Locations
Paignton, Devon, TQ3, TQ4
Description
A former soldier has been jailed for having sex with a vulnerable 13-year-old girl who he groomed online while pretending to be a teenaged boy. Matthew McKay used a false name and internet profile and said he was 15 when he contacted the girl through Instagram and Snapchat.
He persuaded her to send him naked selfies and responded with photos of his private parts and eventually met the girl for sex. By then she realised he was an adult but he claimed to be in his 20s, when in reality he was 35.
The girl, from the South Hams, already had emotional issues and was so traumatised by the sexual abuse that she tried to take her own life. McKay was already a registered sex offender, having been caught by a paedophile hunters sting operation in 2018, while he was still a serving soldier and based at the Duke of Gloucester barracks at South Cerney, near Cirencester.
He groomed and had sex with the girl in Devon in 2021, when he was in the middle of a sex offenders treatment programme, which he was sent on as a direct alternative to prison when he was sentenced for the earlier offences in August 2019. His behaviour should have been controlled by a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) which allowed the police to monitor his computers and phones. He got around it by buying a secret mobile which he did not declare to the police.
He was also a registered sex offender but flouted its rules by moving out of his home near Ivybridge and into his bosss home in Paignton, even though there were four children living there. Police found sex aids and a realistic model of the middle part of a child when they searched his home.
Matthew McKay, aged 36, formerly of Uptown, Ugborough, but now of Paignton, admitted two counts of sexual activity with a child, one of meeting a child following grooming, and one of sexual communication with a child. He also admitted three counts of breaching a SHPO or the sex offenders register and six of making possessing indecent images of children. These included three offences of recording images which he got the 13-year-old to send him.
He was jailed for ten years with a six year extended licence by Judge Peter Johnson at Exeter Crown Court, who was the same judge who freed him and sent him on the sex offenders course in 2019.
The judge deemed him to be a dangerous offender, made a new SHPO, barred him from working with children and put him on the sex offenders register for life.
He told him: Within a short time of your last appearance at this court, and while subject to the order, you started offending again, this time, unlike the earlier matters which involved adults acting as decoys, you moved on to a real child.
In a short time, you were up to your old tricks, engaging in sexual communications, inviting the girl to produce images of herself, in direct breach of the SHPO and using a phone which you did not tell the police about.
Matters got much, much worse and you ended up meeting the girl and penetrating her mouth and vagina. It caused her concern and worry and she thought at one time she might be pregnant.
Her victim personal statement and that of her mother make extremely worrying reading. Your actions caused immense upset and affected her mental health. She made a serious attempt to take her own life. Her mothers statement showed there was a marked impact on the education and school life of a young girl.
There are a substantial number of aggravating features. I take into account the massive harm you have done. I find you are a dangerous offender who poses a significant risk of causing serious harm to young girls by further offending.
Mr Joss Ticehurst, prosecuting, said McKay met the girl online when he was using the false name of Tom Smith and claiming to be 15. She realised he was much older during their Instagram and Snapchat exchanges but only learned his real name when he was arrested.
He flattered her by calling her amazing and telling her how attractive he found her. He gave her the nickname sexy girl in their online chats. He turned their chats to sex and met the girl for the first time when they were both shopping in Newton Abbot in October 2021. He recognised her but she did not know it was him until he sent her a message saying how good it was to see her.
He then arranged a second meeting at which they had sex and he told her she was a good girl. Police found hundreds of child abuse images he had downloaded from the internet on his phone as well as naked videos which she had sent him on Snapchat and which he had recorded from one phone to another to prevent her knowing what he was doing.
Mr Lee Bremridge, defending, said McKays work on the sex offender treatment programme had been disrupted by Covid lockdowns and he did not have the chance to receive the full benefits from it.
He said McKay joined the army when he was 16 and served his country with distinction until the previous offences came to light, ending his career. He has a strong work found other work ethic and found another job after returning to Devon.