Andrew Rickards 39

Description

A paedophile who hid behind fake personas in twisted online chats to encourage a teenage girl to send him indecent photos and engage in sex acts ended up losing his marriage and friends.

Canterbury Crown Court heard Andrew Rickards initially posed as a 14-year-old girl with the username 'Amybum' to engage with the victim in January 2022.

Under that guise of being 'Amy from Ashford', the pervert then introduced his second false identity - that of a man of varying ages called 'James' - into his depraved communications.

Having told the 13-year-old that 'James' was 36 and would be "driven crazy" by her, 'Amy' handed over his online account details for the social media platform, Discord.

The younger girl then contacted him, resulting in Rickards, who this time said he was 28 and kept details of his address limited to 'in Kent', indulging in what were described as "sustained and persistent" sexualised conversations over the course of several days.

Undeterred by her age, these included him asking for photos of the victim wearing her school uniform and lifting up her top to reveal her bra, as well as inviting her to join him in bed and be "little spoon".

He also described himself as a "sexual dominant turned on by cute, little girls", the court was told.

Prosecutor Kieran Brand explained how at one stage Rickards posed as both 'Amy' and 'James' in the same online chat, asking if the girl was prepared "to do stuff" and have threesomes with them.

There was even talk of taking her shopping at Ann Summers to buy sex toys.

But the court heard the victim was also hiding her true identity - that of an undercover officer - and with the usernames traced to his home, Rickards was arrested in April that year.

Police seized several devices, including a phone and laptop, on which they found indecent images of children, extreme pornography, and other conversations in which he had used the 'Amybum' profile, claiming to be 14 and to have had sex with both men and children.

Rickards, 39, of Arden Drive, Ashford, later admitted two offences of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, two of attempting to cause or incite a child to engage in sexual activity, six charges of publishing an obscene article and one of possessing an extreme pornograhic image.

He also admitted three charges of making indecent images of a child in respect of 105 stills and 25 moving clips, and depicting abuse across all three categories of seriousness.

James Burke, defending, told the sentencing hearing on Friday, August 23 that as a result of his offending, Rickards had "lost his marriage and lost his friends".

But his assertion that the defendant's "paedophilic interest" was linked to his poor mental health was rejected by Judge Simon Taylor KC.

"It may be convenient for the defendant to identify that link and may assist him in coming to terms with his offending, but on the evidence available before me there is no link whatsoever," he said.

He also dismissed any suggestion that Rickards could not recall his offending, and said any anxiety he was experiencing was "a consequence of being caught".

Jailing him for a total of two years and 10 months, Judge Taylor said the use of two different personas demonstrated "sophisticated and highly manipulative" offending.

Rickards, who had sat in the dock shaking throughout much of the hearing, mouthed the word 'sorry' to his father, who had attended court in support, as he was led away to start his prison sentence.

On release, he will be subject to indefinite sex offender notification requirements and a 10-year sexual harm prevention order.