Court of Appeal ruling sees man jailed for sending sexually explicit messages to eight-year-old

A man who was handed a three-year community order after sending sexually explicit messages to an eight-year-old girl has now been jailed, after officers appealed his initial sentence.

Anthony Sheppard befriended the girl on Snapchat and asked her to send photos of herself to him. He also sent the youngster, who he initially believed was 13, pornographic images and continued to message her even after she told him she was eight and not 13.

The matter came to light when the girl’s mum found the messages and reported them to police.

The account was traced to Sheppard, and he was arrested. His phone was seized and was also found to contain an extreme pornographic image.

The 61-year-old of Mayfield Avenue, Kilburn was subsequently charged with being an adult attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, attempting to cause/incite a girl to engage in sexual activity and possessing an extreme pornographic image/image portraying an act of intercourse/oral sex with a dead/alive animal.

Sheppard admitted the offences and was initially sentenced by a judge at Derby Crown Court on 25 February.

 Alongside the community order, he was fined, made subject of a deprivation order in respect of his mobile phone, and given a five-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Following the sentence, officers submitted an appeal application to the Attorney General’s office on the grounds that the sentence was ‘unduly lenient’.

The case was referred to the Court of Appeal, where it was heard on 14 May and Sheppard was sentenced to 28 months imprisonment, and required to surrender himself into police custody the following day.

Detective Sergeant Sophie Draycott, from Derbyshire Constabulary’s Child Investigation Unit, said:

“Sheppard was fully aware of how young his victim was but continued to send her sexually explicit content and ask her for images regardless.

“His behaviour was not only appalling and predatory, but also extremely serious.

“The sentence handed to Sheppard in February in no way fit the crimes he had committed and sent completely the wrong message to other individuals who may be at risk of sexually exploiting children.

“I am pleased that the Court of Appeal saw fit to quash Sheppard’s initial sentence and deemed that jail time was the only appropriate outcome in this case.

“This incident will understandably continue to affect the young girl involved for some time to come but I hope that she and her family can now start to look to the future knowing that Sheppard is in prison.”

To report or seek help about online sexual abuse, you can contact us in any of the following ways:

• Website – We have crime reporting tools on our website: use our online contact form
• Facebook – send us a private message to the Derbyshire Constabulary Facebook page
• Phone – call us on 101 

You can also anonymously contact the independent charity CrimeStoppers, on 0800 555 111, or by visiting the CrimeStoppers website.

There are also a number of other organisations who may be able to help with advice or alternative ways in which you can report. They are:

• Child Exploitation Online Protection command (CEOP) - http://ceop.police.uk/
• Internet Watch Foundation - https://www.iwf.org.uk/
• NSPCC Helplines: Anyone concerned about a child can contact the NSPCC Helpline for advice on 0808 8005000
• Get Safe Onlineprovide advice on staying safe online.
• Thinkuknow: An education programme keeping children and young people safe by teaching about sexual abuse and sexual exploitation.