A man from Calne who told a teenage girl he ‘full on craved’ her and had pleasured himself over a photo of her in a bikini has pleaded guilty to two offences.
Jason Payne, of Station Road in Calne, has been ordered to register as a sex offender following his appearance at Swindon Crown Court on Wednesday (8 July).
The 37-year-old admitted engaging in sexual communication with a child and witness intimidation – and was remanded in custody ahead of sentencing in September.
The court was told that the defendant has contacted the 15-year-old girl, from Wiltshire, on Snapchat purporting to be her ex-boyfriend in April this year.
“Full on craved you yesterday”, he told the victim. Later adding: “I was horny for you omg”. He also requested she send him intimate images of herself.
As the child sent nonchalant replies, he told her that he had masturbated over a photograph of her wearing a bikini. He also said: “Miss your [peach emoji]”, referring to her buttocks.
Becoming concerned by the responses, the victim then replied: “this isn’t [ex-boyfriend’s name] i don’t believe you” – and informed her mother about the messages.
Her mother then made her own enquiries, discovering that Payne was behind the Snapchat account. She was able to match a photograph sent to the victim with a location, and then attend to view CCTV footage – which confirmed the defendant had taken it.
The police were informed and officers arrested Payne. He was released on bail, but ignored conditions – contacting both the victim and her mother, threatening to take his own life in a bid to get them to withdraw from supporting a prosecution.
Local Crime Investigator Christopher Wright at Wiltshire Police said: “Payne is a predator who repeatedly preyed on the victim, first by sending sexually explicit communications to her, and then by breaking his bail conditions on numerous occasions to attempt to pressure her and her family into retracting their evidence.
“I would like to commend them for their courage in continuing to support the investigation, which has now seen Payne plead guilty to these offences.
“We take these offences incredibly seriously and we will ensure that offenders like Payne are held to account for their actions.”
Payne, who was serving a non-custodial sentence for hacking a woman’s phone and disclosing sexual photographs of her at the time of his new offending, will next appear at Swindon Crown Court on 3 September for sentencing.
