GWAUN CAE GURWEN: Man jailed over sexual messages to ’12-year-old girl’ on Snapchat

A Gwaun Cae Gurwen man has been jailed for three years and ten months after sending sexual messages and explicit images to what he believed was a 12-year-old girl on Snapchat.

Ashley John, 26, engaged in chat with the profile in October 2024, South Wales Police said.

In his messages, John claimed to be a 17-year-old sheep farmer from south Wales, before engaging in sexual communications that included sending explicit images of himself and requesting indecent images of the child.

He initially denied three charges: attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, attempting to cause or incite a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity, and attempting to cause a child under 13 to look at an image of sexual activity.

John changed his plea to guilty on all three offences on 6 July.

He has been jailed for three years and ten months.

Detective Inspector Hannah Millership said the sentence “reflects the serious risk that sexual communication poses to children and their safety and well-being”.

“We will continue to pursue those who seek to exploit children online and take action to protect vulnerable young people,” she said.

Any child who is worried about anything they have experienced online can contact Childline free and in confidence on 0800 1111.

Concerns about a child’s safety can be reported to police on 101, or 999 in an emergency.