Richard Barlow 36

Description

A sex offender with a history of “worrying” crimes has been jailed after police found indecent images of children on his device.

Richard Barlow, 36, of Crescent Close, Wrexham, appeared at Mold Crown Court on Thursday afternoon.

He had admitted two offences of making indecent images of children (categories A and B) and failing to comply with sex offender notification requirements.

Prosecutor Joshua Gorst told the court Barlow is a registered sex offender with convictions dating back to 2014 for causing a child to engage in a sexual act, making indecent images, outraging public decency, breaching sexual harm orders and exposure.

The latest offences were uncovered during an unannounced police visit to his home in February. Barlow handed over a device, and officers found the images on a social media messaging app.

Using the username “Richie Rich”, he had been chatting with another user about the children — predominantly girls aged four to 11 — “saying how nice they looked” and asking for more images. His failure to register the username formed the notification offence.

Defence barrister Charlotte Cooper said:

“Mr Barlow is no stranger to the prison system. He is an extremely troubled man. He’s in a cycle as it stands and he has never had the benefit of probation intervention.”

She conceded the offences crossed the custody threshold but asked for a suspended sentence to allow rehabilitation.

Judge Rhys Rowlands said it was “abundantly clear” Barlow was not prepared to comply with his registration obligations, describing the breach as a “deliberate failure to comply”.

He branded the defendant’s previous sexual offending “worrying” and jailed him for two years immediately.

Barlow was also made subject to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order, with his notification requirements continuing.