Locations
Glanymor Street, Briton Ferry, Neath, Neath Port Talbot, SA11
Description
A teenager sent videos of his penis to schoolgirls, a court has heard. Rio Thomas has been described as posing a high risk of harm to children.
The 19-year-old's barrister told Swansea Crown Court that her client had done very little in latter teenage years apart from staying in his bedroom and taking cannabis and cocaine on a daily basis.
Sending the teenager down, a judge said it was clear from everything he had read about Thomas that he had "an obsession with sexual matters" and said a "clear and structured plan" would need to be put in place to manage the defendant in the community.
Ieuan Rees, prosecuting, told the court that between June and December last year the defendant sent a series of videos of himself masturbating to girls using the messaging app Snapchat. He also sent the children sexually explicit messages, some of which referenced sex acts he wanted to engage in with his mother.
The court heard that when his victims blocked him from contacting them the defendant would create a new Snapchat account and resume his contact.
The matter was reported to police and the defendant was arrested in Briton Ferry on December 14. The prosecutor said that as the teenager was being taken to the waiting police van he asked if his handcuffs could be removed so he could put his jacket on - when the cuffs were released, he ran off.
The court heard that officers chased Thomas but were unable to find him. A drone was brought in to help search the area, and the defendant was located in Gethin Street some two hours later.
When interviewed, Thomas denied sending the videos, saying images of him were everywhere in Port Talbot, Maesteg and Bridgend as " I used to be a horny b******".
The court heard police were later able to link the Snapchat accounts from which the videos had been sent to Thomas and to addresses associated with Thomas, including his grandmother's house in Maesteg.
Rio Thomas, of Glanymor Street, Briton Ferry, had previously pleaded guilty to causing a child to watch a sexual act, engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child, engaging in sexual communications with a child, and escaping lawful custody when he returned to the dock for sentencing. He asked for four counts of engaging in sexual communications with a child involving different young girls to be taken into account.
Thomas has one previous conviction for one offence of aggravated vehicle taking for which he was given a referral order.
Helen Randall, for Thomas, said the defendant began taking cannabis at the age of 14 and cocaine at the age of 15, and said he had spent his latter teenage years doing very little "apart from staying in his bedroom and using those drugs on a daily basis". She said it was clear from the pre-sentence report that the defendant could not explain his offending but said the report highlighted how his drug use and immaturity played their parts.
Judge Geraint Walters said it was clear from everything he had read about Thomas that he had "an obsession with sexual matters" and said the teenager had been described as posing a high risk of harm to children. He said a "clear and structured plan" would need to be put in place to manage the defendant in the community upon his release.
With discounts for his guilty pleas, Thomas was sentenced to 28 months in a young offenders institution. He will be a registered sex offender for the next 10 years and was made the subject of a 10-year sexual harm prevention order.