Stephen Attah 47

Description

Stephen Attah, 47, groomed a 14-year-old girl with lewd sexual messages over six months after spotting her in a Liverpool pub with her family.

He took her phone, added his number, and began messaging her on WhatsApp, switching to 24-hour disappearing messages.

At Liverpool Crown Court on August 1, prosecutor Jamie Baxter said: "While at the pub, (Attah) took the girl's phone, entered his personal number into it, and soon after began messaging her on WhatsApp, and began grooming her. The defendant changed the chat to 24-hour disappearing messages. This deletes the chat thread after that period."

The girl saved some messages, which she shared with police. Mr. Baxter added: "These messages reveal a snapshot of the defendant's lewd and sexual messages toward the victim. The victim explained in addition to the sexual messages, the defendant had at some stage taken a photo of his penis and sent it to her. He tried to book a hotel for them to meet up - to arrange and facilitate the commission of a sexual offence against her."

Court-heard messages included a 12:30 a.m. text urging her to meet him in pyjamas: "come and see (him) for 10 minutes." He said he was "round the corner" from her house and offered "£20 for a vape." He asked: "can I have a picture please? Sexy ones. Send me some different pictures of you and I'll video call you in a minute. Don't talk, just look at me and see what's waiting for you."

He offered to book a hotel the next day, warning: "You can't let anyone else know what we're doing or see us together, you know. You know that, right?" Messages grew more explicit, demanding nude photos from her bathroom and becoming forceful.

Mr. Baxter said: "She said the defendant would threaten her not to tell anyone what they would speak about. He told her 'if you tell anyone, something's going to happen to you', and she believed him."

The girl confided in her cousin, leading to her parents alerting police. Attah was arrested and pleaded guilty to arranging or facilitating a child sex offence and sexual communication with a child.

In her statement, the girl said: "When everyone found out I was terrified and upset, and it's impacted my confidence massively. I don't go out alone anymore. I'm scared I'll bump into someone who knows him or his family. I'm scared if he does get out, what he'll do to me or my family. It plays over in my head every single day. I feel scared and upset every single day because of it."

Mr. Baxter noted Attah, of Askham Close, Toxteth, had 18 prior convictions for 38 offences, including drug supply, firearm possession, and bladed article possession. He added: "The use of threats, when considered in the context of his convictions, may add significant credibility to the victim's concerns."

Defence barrister Carmel Wild said references from family, friends, employers, and his partner showed a "very different side": "Somebody they can count on, kind, compassionate, empathetic and very committed to his work." She noted his remorse and shame, explaining: "Although there is no excuse for this disgusting behaviour, he outlines the place he found himself in. He wasn't taking his prescribed medication during this time, and was blocking out traumas with alcohol. The loss of his mother and the daily care of his father."

Attah has PTSD from witnessing a friend shot dead and testifying against the perpetrators, after which the perpetrator's brother murdered the mother of his children. Ms. Wild added: "He had accepted he was struggling and turned to alcohol and turned to this offending despite having a partner. This offending is very much out of character. The defendant does had previous convictions but there is some gap in offending between 2017 and 2025."

Since remand, Attah has worked as a cleaner and completed an alcohol awareness course.