A man who had a sex chat with a 15-year-old girl has held onto an eight-year relationship despite his infidelity with the youngster, a court heard.
Daniel Coopey, 29, pleaded guilty to engaging in sexual communication with a child over a four-day period at Swindon Magistrates’ Court this morning (15 September).
Crown prosecutor Pauline Lambert said the defendant, of Ramleaze Drive, Shaw, was 27 years of age at the time of the offence between 31 January and 3 February 2020.
He spoke to the girl through the messaging app WhatsApp, confirming he knew her age and mentioned her upcoming birthday in his conversation along with sexual communication.
His messages including suggesting he put his hand under her top, inside her bra and inside her leggings. Coopey even substituted the emotions “turned on”, “embarrassed” and “feeling butterflies” for emojis in a bid to cover his tracks.
He asked his victim “would you rather me just pull you on my lap?” and “what would you do when you felt it?”, presumably meaning his penis.
The girl’s mother called the police after inspecting her daughter’s mobile phone and finding messages between the pair – many of which were deleted.
Defending, Clare Gooding said her client had no intention of ever carrying out any of the content discussed.
She added that Coopey had taken a number of overdoses following his arrest, one of which caused him significant memory loss from his arrest onwards.
He has managed to keep a relationship of eight years, Ms Gooding said. Adding that they have “managed to get through this”.
Magistrates ordered a pre-sentence report and told Coopey he must register as a sex offender immediately, but the term will be determined at the time of sentencing. He will next appear in October.
