A man who pleaded guilty to engaging a 14-year-old girl in sexual activity has appeared in court for sentencing.
Kane Pearson, aged 21, had previously admitted to three counts of causing a girl aged 13 to 15 to engage in in sexual activity and one count of engaging in sexual communication with a child.
The incidents occurred between 20 August and 5 September 2023.
Pearson had initially befriended the victim on Instagram in August 2023 after she mistook him for somebody she knew.
He then began communicating with the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, before he encouraged her to send sexually explicit photographs of herself. He also sent her an sexually explicit image of himself.
The victim became concerned about what Pearson would do with the photographs he had of her; however, Pearson began insisting that she was now his girlfriend and began to pressure her into meeting.
The conversations were discovered after the victim’s friend confided in her own mother, who told the victim’s mother about the exchanges.
During the sentencing hearing, the victim’s mother read a personal statement to the court.
In it, she said: “As parents our world was turned upside down when we discovered what had been happening to our daughter. We have always thought that we had enough safety measures in place to prevent this type of crime from happening in our home, but we were wrong. Our home is a place of love and support and to think that our daughter was targeted in such a way in a place where she should be safe and secure, and where we believed she was safe, has been heartbreaking for us.
“We have watched our daughter go from a young 13-year-old enjoying being with her friends and settling into life at secondary school to one who has lost her self-confidence and feels shame and humiliation, she has suffered and continues to suffer sleepless nights, nightmares and panic attacks. She is fearful of being alone and she carries a deep sense of shame.
“I often think about what could have happened if we had not intercepted this when we did. This continues to play on my mind and keep me awake at night. This has been one of a parent’s worst nightmares.”
Appearing at Gloucester Crown Court last Wednesday (26 February), Pearson was given a 22-month prison sentence, suspended for two years and ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.
He was made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years, put on the Sex Offenders’ Register for 10 years, and a five-year restraining order was put in place. He was also ordered to pay £4,760 in compensation to the victim.
