Man Sentenced to Over Eight Years for Attempted Child Sexual Abuse

A 43-year-old man, Stephen Poulter, has been sentenced to an extended term of more than eight years for attempting to engage in sexual conversations with children online. Poulter, previously of Lindsay Avenue, Northampton, was using a chat site to engage in sexually explicit conversations with profiles he believed belonged to two 14-year-old girls.

However, the profiles were actually controlled by members of an online child abuse activist group, who reported Poulter to Northamptonshire Police on February 18, 2023. Police immediately arrested Poulter, who was already subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) imposed in 2021 following a previous conviction.

An investigation by the Force's Online Child Abuse Investigation Unit (OCAIU) revealed that despite being informed that the profiles were of 14-year-old girls, Poulter sent them indecent images and videos of himself. He was subsequently charged with two counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and one count of attempting to cause a child to look at an image of sexual activity.

Poulter refused to provide police with access to his mobile phone, a requirement of his previous sentence, leading to a breach of the SHPO charge. He was also charged with possession of Class B drugs (cannabis) found in his home during his arrest.

Poulter pleaded guilty to all charges at Northampton Crown Court in March 2023. On July 10, 2023, he was sentenced to an extended sentence, a designation for criminals convicted of specific offenses deemed dangerous. The sentence consists of 40 months' imprisonment followed by a five-year extension period on licence.

In addition to the prison sentence, Poulter was ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £228. The court also issued orders for the forfeiture and destruction of his electronic devices and the seized cannabis.