Jonathan Pound – Cornwall

A night porter encouraged a 12-year old-girl to use a sex toy on herself and even asked her to come and stay in a hotel room with him while on holiday in Cornwall so he could rape her

Jonathan Pound started engaging in communication with a child when he joined the Kik messaging app which is known to be targeted at and used by children and teenagers.

He contacted a girl aged 12 and soon the conversation took a sexualised turn in nature.

A sentencing hearing at Truro Crown Court yesterday (Monday, April 27) heard how the conversation – even when Pound knew perfectly well that the girl was 12 years old – went from flirtatious to disgusting.

In 15 exchanges over five weeks, Pound, 44, from Station Road in Grampound Road, between Truro and St Austell, asked the girl if she was into older men, if she had a nice body and even asked her to send him pictures of her breasts and genitals.

The court heard that on one occasion he asked her to go in the house, locate a sex toy and insert it into her vagina and then he sent her a picture of his penis.

It was when he tried to encourage the girl to meet up at a hotel room he would book and asked her to come alone so staff would not bat an eyelid but would think she was his own daughter, that Devon and Cornwall Police, who had run the fake-girl account as a paedo-hunting decoy, pounced.

Pound was arrested and charged with one count of inciting a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity and another of engaging in sexual communication with a child in connection with the incident in February/March 2024.

The 44-year-old dad of two young children later pleaded guilty to the charges.

His barrister said the incident happened two years ago and had been a one-off and Pound had not offended either before or since.

She said that Pound denied having any sexual interest in children but admitted that what he did was wrong, adding that he had been lonely at the time with no-one to speak to about his mental health issues.

His Honour Judge Simon Carr said Pound had intended to use Kik because it is targeted at and used by children and teens.

He said Pound’s conversation with the fake child were entirely sexualised and abhorrent in nature.

Judge Carr said Pound’s offences were so serious an immediate custodial sentence was unavoidable.

He sentenced Pound to three years in prison. He will serve half before he is eligible to be released on licence.

He will also be on the sex offenders’ register for life and a sexual harm prevention order restricting his access to the internet was imposed for 10 years.