A paedophile who sent an indecent sex act picture to an underage girl has been caged for three and a half years.
Danny Ritchy, 45, began messaging the 13-year-old girl on Facebook in July last year. Within just two hours of making contact, the married dad-of-two began making inappropriate comments during their communications.
Teesside Crown Court heard how he incited the young girl to touch herself and on another occasion, he sent an indecent picture of himself. It also heard how the victim has since suffered from panic attacks and no longer feels safe in her own home.
A victim impact statement said: “I know I have been the victim of grooming and I don’t know how to cope with the feelings I have been left with. When it was all happening I felt lost and was blinded by the compliments I was getting. I know this man was taking advantage of me. I suffer panic attacks thinking he’s going to get me, I don’t feel safe in my own home.”
Ritchy’s offending came to light after he was contacted by paedophile hunting group Fleetwood Enforcers, who set up a decoy account posing as a 14-year-old girl. Ritchy contacted the decoy via Facebook under the name of Dave Smith and chatted with the account for seven months.
The prosecution said: “He was repeatedly told by the decoy that she was 14 but despite this he engaged in sexual chat and talked about wanting to masturbate over photographs of her.”
As reported by Teeside Live, Ritchy was arrested at his home and told Cleveland Police: “I’ll be honest I’ve spoken to loads of girls – sometimes kids, sometimes sexually, I’d never meet any.”
When cops confiscated his phone they, found he was talking to the 13-year-old child. Ritchy, previously of Symons Close, Stockton, but now of HMP Doncaster, pleaded guilty to a catalogue of offences.
They included sexual communication with a child, inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, four counts of causing a child to look at an image of sexual activity and three counts of sending a photograph of a person’s genitals to a child. In mitigation, his barrister Robert Mochrie, said Ritchy was going through “extreme isolation” at the time of the offences.
He said his client admitted the charges in the magistrates’ court and urged Recorder Tony Hawks to keep the sentence as short as possible taking into account totality. Sentencing, Recorder Hawks told the defendant: “You engaged in sexualised behaviour including acquiring pictures of [name of victim] and sending her pictures. You are plainly a man with a perverted interest in underage girls.”
The defendant was handed a three-and-a-half year prison sentence. Investigating officer Detective Constable Barnes from Police Online Investigation Team (POLIT) said: “Ritchy targeted children online in pursuit of his own sexual gratification.
“We will continue to identify those who groom and coerce vulnerable children online and ensure they face the full force of the law. We’d encourage any child or young person who is concerned about someone they’re speaking to online, to tell someone about it or report it directly to the police.”