Man jailed after sending sexual messages

Alan Wiltshire, 65, from Devizes, sent sexual messages to someone on social media he thought was a 12 year old girl

A man who sent sexual messages on social media to someone he believed to be a 12-year-old girl has been jailed for 28 months.

Alan Wiltshire, 65, from Devizes, had already been given a suspended sentence for making indecent images of children.

He was sentenced at Winchester Crown Court on 26 July.

Det Con Sarah Greenman, from Wiltshire Police, said: “Wiltshire was given the opportunity to rehabilitate within the community, however the escalation in his offending has shown that he is either unable, or unwilling, to control his behaviour."

Wiltshire pleaded guilty to attempting to engage in sexual communications with a child, attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity and breaching his sexual harm prevention order.

In April he was sentenced after admitting to three counts of making indecent images of children.

For that he was given the initial suspended sentence and was put on the Sex Offenders Register and given a five-year sexual harm prevention order.

However, this recent offence meant he breached the suspended custodial sentence.

As a result, he was jailed for 14 months for inciting sexual activity, seven for sexual messages, a year for breaching his Sexual Harm Prevention Order, and two months for breaching his suspended sentence order.

A new sexual harm prevention order was handed out as well, lasting for 10 years.

Detective Constable Sarah Greenman added: “We hope that this custodial sentence not only acts as a deterrent to prevent Wiltshire from re-offending in the future, but also sends out a powerful message out to other potential offenders."

Wiltshire Police has reminded people there is help available for people having "intrusive thoughts about children" at organisations such as StopitNow, StopSo and the Lucy Faithful Foundation.