A CONVICTED sex offender who was banned from using social media has been jailed after sending sexual messages and images to two people he believed were 13-year-old girls.
Andrew Lapping, aged 35, from Longacres in Bridgend, contacted the profiles – which were actually decoys operated by adult volunteers – on a chatroom before moving the conversations to Snapchat, where messages automatically disappear.
Despite being the subject of a court order banning him from using social media or communicating with under-16s, Lapping sent images of his penis and made repeated sexual remarks.
Newport Crown Court heard on Friday (Apr 4) that he first began messaging a girl he thought was called “Niamh”. When told she was 13, he replied: “I’m lying in bed and horny.” He later sent an image of his erect penis and encouraged the child to send naked photos while she changed into her pyjamas.
He told the girl, “I bet you look super cute,” and asked if she wanted to be in bed with him. He also said he wanted to pick her up and that it would be “their little secret”. Later, he asked whether her friend also wanted to have sex with him.
Lapping was arrested on October 24, 2023, and initially claimed the mobile phone used was an old one belonging to his brother. But police found clothing, underwear and bedding which matched images he had sent during the conversations.
Further analysis of his device uncovered messages to a second decoy, “Kayleigh”, who had also told him she was 13. Lapping told her they could “chill on the bed,” asked if she was “horny” and whether she touched herself.
He sent more sexualised messages, asked for photos of her in her bra, and sent a live video of himself masturbating. He told her he “couldn’t wait to meet her and have fun,” and even suggested a threesome involving her and a friend.
Lapping pleaded guilty to attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity, breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, and sending images with the intention of causing alarm, distress or humiliation.
The court was told he had previous convictions for raping a child under 13 and for similar online offences.
His barrister, Jenny Yeo, said Lapping led an “isolated life” and was the only non-disabled person in his household. She said he had since been assigned a “neurodiversity buddy” in prison.
Judge Daniel Williams told him: “You said you were lonely following the break-up with your partner and you weren’t thinking. Of course, the opposite is true. You are a high risk of committing further offences and your risk can no longer be managed in the community. You are a high risk of causing serious harm to male and female children.”
Lapping was sentenced to three years in prison. He will remain on the sex offenders register and is subject to an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
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