Canadian 'Dangerous predator' groomed teenage girl over Facebook messenger

Stephen Powell tried to get a young girl to send sexualised pictures of herself to him over an online messaging app. He has been jailed for three years after pleading guilty to the offences

By Edward Era Barbacena 

A paedophile who attempted to groom a teenage girl from Surrey has been locked up. Stephen Powell, 42, of no fixed address, was sentenced to three years' imprisonment after his "abhorrent behaviour" was uncovered.

After his actions were reported in April 2020, Powell was arrested and his electronic devices seized. It showed that he had been sending sexualised messages via Facebook Messenger to a teenage girl.

The messages showed Powell encouraging the girl to send sexualised images of herself. At Guildford Crown Court on Monday, August 14, he pleaded to seven counts of child sex offences including two counts of making an indecent photograph of a child, two counts of distributing an indecent photograph of a child and engaging in sexual communication with a child.

Detective Ed Davies said: “I hope that this case shows that sex offenders who target children online can expect a knock on the door from officers at any time and that they will be held to account for their abhorrent behaviour. We are relentless in our pursuit of offenders and work around the clock to safeguard children from predators like Powell.

“If there is anyone reading this who has been a victim of online child sex abuse, I would encourage you to speak to us. We will do everything we can to support you.”

Powell was sentenced to three years in prison and given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) with prohibitions. He was also sentenced to a further two months in prison for two counts of burglary and two counts of fraud.