Alcoholic Paedophile Jailed for Targeting Children on Facebook

A 39-year-old man, Steven Boorman, has been jailed for 16 months after targeting six children on Facebook, including ordering one to not tell her mother.

Boorman, who is from the Sittingbourne area and has no fixed abode, believed he was sending indecent images to underage teenagers. However, he was actually communicating with paedophile hunters, whom he attempted to groom by telling one to "be a big girl" and another that "mum does not need to know."

The court heard that Boorman badgered and pressurised the fake Facebook profiles over several weeks in autumn 2020.

Representing himself at Canterbury Crown Court, Boorman said in mitigation: "I've never done this before, the drink overtook me. I would like to get back to normal, I've lost all my family."

Judge Catherine Brown sentenced Boorman to 16 months in prison. He will also be subject to a lifetime of notification requirements and a 10-year sexual harm prevention order. Boorman pleaded guilty to nine non-contact sexual offences in August of last year.