Man sent sexual message to officer posing as child

Ruben Pretorius was handed a 16-month suspended sentence

A man who sent sexual messages to an undercover police officer he thought was a 12-year-old girl has been sentenced.

Ruben Pretorius, 33, had messaged 'Megan' over an eight month period in 2021 and 2022, encouraging her to engage in sexual behaviour and sending her indecent pictures of himself.

Douglas Courthouse heard Pretorius had used a fake name while messaging the girl and jokingly said that she looked 14 when told she was 12.

Deemster Graeme Cook said he had been "overtly sexual" in his communications.

He was sentenced to 16 months in prison, suspended for two years, and placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years.

Video call

The court heard Pretorius, of Clifton Terrace in Douglas, and the undercover officer, who was based in the UK, initially communicated with each other on Kik Messenger before moving to Snapchat.

The messages included "frequent reference" to her being a school girl, and on one occasion Pretorius asked if they could have video call when her mother was "sleeping" so that she could "see me", the court was told.

The communications took place on a total of 40 days between November 2021 and July 2022.

The court heard while the messaging had dropped off during the summer of 2022, the police investigation was not launched until April the following year, with Pretorius arrested in July.

The 33-year-old previously pleaded guilty to attempting to procure gross indecency from a child as well as two offences of sending a message that was grossly offensive or of an indecent.

Deemster Cook said that he was "not satisfied" as to why the constabulary "took as long as they did to arrest you".

The deemster said Pretorius was "one of the last" to be sentenced under 1992 legislation, and had it been under the new sexual offences legislation introduced on Monday it "would have been a different matter".

He was also made subject to a sexual offences prevention order, which restricts his access to and use of the internet, and ordered to pay £250 in costs.