Hampshire Teenager Avoids Prison After Sex Act on Video Call with 12-Year-Old Girl

A Hampshire teenager has avoided prison after performing a sex act on himself during a video call with a 12-year-old girl.

Winchester Crown Court heard how Lewis Howcroft, 19, had been communicating with the victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, over the video calling service Skype. He had also been searching for illegal material online before being discovered by police.

Howcroft, from Northington Down near Alresford, claimed the victim had requested to see him performing the sex act on Skype and that he had initially refused. However, this claim was not proven.

Howcroft was caught when the victim's parents discovered messages on their daughter's phone and contacted the police. He pleaded guilty to causing a child to watch an image of a person engaging in sexual activity.

Prosecuting, Colin Meeke, stated there was evidence of "highly sexualised" chat logs with the girl. "It is abundantly clear he knew how young she was, there is evidence of some grooming. He did not seek to deny the matters," Meeke added.

"It is clear the defendant, over a period of time, made a number of disturbing internet searches," Meeke said.

Mitigating, Chloe Jay told the court that Howcroft "lacked the emotional maturity of an adult". The court also heard a psychological report had been produced on Howcroft's "mental conditions" that indicated he had already suffered "grave" effects including losing his job, college place and being excluded from social groups, as well as him and his family being "harassed" by paedophile hunters.

Howcroft, who was 18 at the time of the incident in November 2016, was sentenced to a three-year community order, with a 60-day rehabilitation requirement and 100 hours of unpaid work.

Judge Pawson said: "You caused a child to watch a highly sexualised act. Whether she did or didn't ask is neither here nor there, she was 12. I have seen and heard about the various searches you made on the internet, some of that is likely to have been down to the curiosity of a teenage person, but some of that goes beyond curiosity."

Hawcroft was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge.