A MAN from Newport has avoided jail after sending porn to a fake profile which he believed to belong to a 13-year-old girl.

Elias Juarez, of Clytha Square, pleaded guilty to attempted sexual communications with a child at Newport Magistrates’ Court on February 29.

An “online child protection group” contacted Gwent Police after detaining Juarez on January 11, having lured him to a café on New Ruperra Street where he believed he was meeting a 13-year-old girl.

The meeting came after three months of messages between Juarez and the fake profile, "Evie", starting November 19, 2023.

The adults behind the “protection group” explicitly told him he was talking with a 13-year-old girl.

He said the girl was “gorgeous”, complimented her hair and eyes, and asked if she was dating anyone at the time.

Taking the conversation to WhatsApp, Juarez, who is 33, told "Evie" he imagined her wearing pyjamas and asked if she had ever shared a bath.

He said he would like to be her first kiss and replaced characters in words like “virgin” and “sex” to avoid detection, prosecutor Sol Hartley said.

He sent non-sexual pictures of himself and asked for the same in return.

After “Evie” said she was a virgin, the Newport man sent pornographic videos depicting oral and vaginal sex as an example.

'Guilty'

Juarez appeared at Cardiff Crown Court today, March 28.

Stephen Thomas, defending, said his client had no previous convictions.

Mr Thomas noted there were no threats made to the fake account, and no actual harm was done to a young person.

He also applied for full credit for Juarez’s guilty plea at the earliest opportunity.

Sentencing, Recorder Mark Cotter KC said the starting point would have been 15 months’ imprisonment.

But because of Juarez’s previous good character, guilty plea and the fact the sexual communications were merely attempted - it did not meet the custody threshold.

Juarez must complete a 36 month community order, with the requirement of completing a Horizon programme.

In that time, he must complete 30 days of rehabilitation activity and 50 hours of unpaid work and pay a victim surcharge of £114 within 28 days.

He has also been subjected to a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years.