A man who attempted to engage in sexual communications with a child has received a court order that restricts his behaviour for 10 years.
Duncan Simfukwe, aged 35, was arrested after it was alleged that he sent sexually explicit messages to someone he believed to be a 14-year-old girl.
Nottingham Crown Court heard that he had, in fact, interacted with a decoy account set up by an online child activist group.
The group alerted the police, and he was arrested the same day.
Detectives seized his mobile phones and discovered messages of a sexual nature to the decoy account, along with one instructing the supposed girl not to tell her parents about their exchanges.
Simfukwe, formerly of Northolme Avenue, Bulwell, was subsequently charged with attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.
He initially pleaded not guilty, insisting he thought the person he was messaging was “messing him around” and “just playing games” when they claimed to be 14 years old.
The case was heading for trial until he changed his plea to guilty at a hearing last October.
At his sentencing hearing on Wednesday (5 February), he was handed a 10-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely, and made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years.
Such orders restrict a person’s behaviour to prevent them from committing further sexual offences.
In Simfukwe’s case, the order prohibits him from possessing any photograph of a female child under the age of 16 without the permission of that child’s parent or guardian.
He is also banned from seeking contact with or undertaking any employment likely to result in him having unsupervised contact with vulnerable persons under the age of 18.
He is further prohibited from possessing any computer software, programme, or storage media containing images of any female child under the age of 16 without the permission of that child’s parent or guardian.
Simfukwe faces imprisonment if he breaches the order.
Following the hearing, Detective Constable Charlotte Read, who led the investigation, said:
“The safeguarding of children and young people is a priority for Nottinghamshire Police, which is why we responded positively to information provided to us by the online child sexual abuse activist group.
“Simfukwe was quickly arrested, and I am pleased the court has put strict measures in place to restrict his behaviour.
“I also hope that this case will alert others to the dangers of the digital world – Simfukwe used a popular social media app to communicate with the decoy account, but there are many other ways that children communicate online today, and we urge parents to remain vigilant and seek support if something doesn’t seem right.”
