February 2015
Tamworth man jailed for sending ‘sexually explicit’ texts to 12-year-olds
Picture taken in 2010
A TAMWORTH man who sent sexually explicit text messages to young schoolgirls has been jailed for three years by a judge.
Loner Bredwell Stroud came in to contact with three 12-year-olds via a chatroom, Stafford Crown Court heard.
Over a period of a few weeks he sent them around 1,200 texts, despite being warned off by one of the girls’ parents.
Stroud, aged 34, of Caledonian, Tamworth admitted four charges of inciting a child under the age of 13 to sexual activity.
In a basis of plea accepted by the prosecution, Stroud said he was at first unaware of the ages of the children and had no intention of arranging any meetings with them.
Along with the jail sentence he was also ordered to register as a sex offender indefinitely.
Judge Michael Challinor told him: “You did become aware they were only 12 and you continued with inappropriate text conversations with them.
“They are only children and they must be protected from men like you in a century when this sort of communication is becoming all the more common.
“You demonstrate a lack of maturity. You are lonely and socially isolated, the likelihood is you would feel more comfortable speaking in a sexual way with youngsters than with those of your own age.”
But the judge added that there must be deterrent sentences for those who message children in a sexual way.
