June 2014
Exeter barman jailed for exposing himself to schoolgirls on-line
A barman has been jailed after he exchanged sex selfies with three schoolgirls on Skype.
James Bingham groomed the girls after meeting them in person or in on-line chat rooms and persuaded two of them to perform sex acts for him in front of their webcams.
The 19-year-old also exposed himself to all of the victims, including one girl who he knew was aged just 13, Exeter Crown Court was told.
Bingham was found with a hundred of child abuse images on his computer when police raided the home where he lived with his grandparents in Exeter.
Detectives recovered Skype chat logs from his two laptops which showed he started asking for sexually explicit images shortly after making contact with the girls, who were aged 13 or 15.
The youngest girl was the only one to turn down his pleas for webcam sex shows and she later told police she found his messages ‘creepy’.
He had told some of the girls he was the same age as them when in fact he was up to five years older.
Bingham, of Haytor Drive, Exeter, who worked at a pub in Longdown, admitted four offences of inciting a child to pornography, two of causing children to watch a sexual act, seven of making or distributing indecent images and one of breaching the terms of the sex offenders’ register.
He was jailed for two and a half years by Judge Erik Salomonsen, who told him:”It is clear to me there was no emotion or affection. You were doing this simply for sexual gratification.
“These offences involved three separate girls and you clearly have a sexual interest in young girls. It was abusive conduct on your part.”
Miss Bathsheba Cassel, prosecuting, said Bingham met one girl in person and then started text and Skype chats and the others on the internet.
In every case he turned the conversation to sex. He told the 15-year-old he was their age and performed sex acts in front of his webcam before asking them to do the same for him in Skype video calls.
Miss Cassel said the 13-year-old refused and later told police:”His calls and texts started to become creepy”.
Detectives also recovered 112 indecent images or movies from his computers, including more than 20 in the most serious category.
Bingham failed to notify the police after admitting his offences at an earlier hearing at which he was ordered to sign on the sex offenders’ register.
Mr James Calderbank, defending, said Bingham’s offending should not be compared to those who exploit girls and make money by distributing obscene material on the internet.
He said:”There was no significant degree of planning. It was a boy on his computer in a chat room. It is more akin to selfies and he was 17 at the time.”
He said he had admitted everything as soon as police raided his grandfather’s home where he lived.
He said Bingham had struggled at school but worked at a Coop shop and the Lamb Inn where he was also studying for an NVQ.
