A Penrith man appeared in court and admitted sending an explicit photo of himself to a 16-year-old girl.
Nigel Stuart Burton, 36, of Landels Court, Southend Road, was at the time of the offence using drink and drugs as a crux during a difficult period in his life, which coincided with the start of the first coronavirus lockdown.
Burton was charged with sending an indecent or offensive communication to the girl and pleaded guilty when he appeared at Carlisle Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.
Prosecutor Mr George Shelley said the photo was sent to the girl in the early hours of March 14 2020.
She told police that although she lived in Penrith she did not know Burton but had accepted a friend request from him on social media.
Shortly after 3am she received a message from Burton using Facebook Messenger.
The message was explicit and when she replied that she was confused he sent a photo of his genitalia with another explicit comment.
The girl replied that he shouldn’t be messaging her and Burton then attempted to contact her via Facetime video calling.
She blocked him and was said to have been left “shocked and disgusted”.
The court heard Burton had 28 previous convictions for 57 offences and at the time of the offence had been the subject of a court order.
Gail Heard, defending, said Burton remembered very little of the incident and had turned to drink and drugs following the end of a long-term relationship and losing his job.
She said Burton’s family background had been alluded to in a pre-sentence report and she had represented various family members in court over the past 20 years.
Ms Heard added that although Burton had previous convictions none were for sexual offences.
There was also long periods of no offending during times of stability in his life. Burton was said to be deeply distressed and ashamed of his actions.
Magistrates sentenced him to an 18-month community order with 200 hours of unpaid work and 25 rehabilitation activity days, plus an £85 victim surcharge and £85 court costs.
