Man jailed for grooming boy for underage sex

Saturday 09 March 2019

A woman from Jersey has helped secure a ten-month prison sentence for a man who tried to meet up with a '14-year-old boy' for sex.

It wasn't actually a 14-year-old boy though - it was Cheyenne O'Connor, who has helped land a number of men in prison in Jersey too.

She uses apps and messaging service to pretend to be underage children, and then gives police the messages she receives from adults inciting them to have sex or other sexual activities.

Pictured: Cheyenne O'Connor. 

On this occasion Ms O'Connor used Grindr and caught 52-year-old Mike Pepperell who sent "explicit and deplorable messages" to who he thought was a child called Daniel.

Guernsey's Royal Court heard how Pepperell was messaging the 'boy' through Grindr - a social media network aimed at gay, bisexual and transgender people. During the course of their conversation the 'boy' told Pepperell he was 14, but the man carried on messaging him, with graphic details of sexual acts before encouraging him to travel from Jersey to Guernsey so they could meet up.

He sent the 'child' screenshots of the Condor Ferries' website and told him; "let me know when you’re coming and I’ll meet you." When the 'boy' said he'd not booked ferry tickets before, Pepperell told him; “get somebody to help you or go into the condor office.”

Pictured: The Grindr app which Pepperell used. 

Pepperell was arrested by Guernsey Police on 9 December 2018 and has been held in custody since then. His phone was seized and checked for any evidence of illegal activity. 

During police interviews on 19 December 2018, Pepperell said he didn't know the 'boy' was 14, and thought he was 19. The court heard that people have to 18 or older to use Grindr.

“If I’d known the person was 14 I’d not have contacted him”, Pepperell told Guernsey Police, adding that it would be "abhorrent" to do so.  

The court heard Pepperell was shocked when told he’d been in touch with someone of just 14. He thought they were older from the messages, and from a photo he thought they were 18 or 19 years old.

His defence lawyer said Pepperell had admitted his guilt at the earliest opportunity and co-operated with Guernsey Police fully, while ultimately accepting responsibility.

Advocate Sam Steel said Pepperell has used Grindr seeking adults. He didn't use it to meet children. He repeated that Grindr is an app for people aged over 18, so Pepperell didn't expect to meet someone under 18. 

While Pepperell admits he sent pictures of his penis to the ‘boy’ his defence lawyer said that was before he knew the 'boy' was under 18. He accepts he should have terminated the conversation as soon as he said he was 14.

Pepperell also accepts he would have met up with the ‘boy’ but says he 'wouldn’t have gone through with it'.

Defence Advocate Steel said it wasn't a 14-year-old boy though, and described Ms O'Connor as a ‘paedophile hunter’. He said Pepperell was relieved when he found out it was a grown woman and not a boy he had been messaging. The court was told that no child was harmed by his actions.

Pepperell denies being sexually attracted to 14-year-old boys, and his lawyer said that when his electronic devices were checked, no images were found to suggest a sexual interest in under age children. All of his digital conversations were checked too and nothing was found to suggest an interest in children.

Advocate Steel read out a transcript of a Skype conversation Pepperell had with a friend in 2015 where he said he wasn't interested in another man because he was "too young for me" and "jailbait". Pepperell said he preferred "dirty old men" and when shown a picture of an older man he said; "that’s more like it".

Pictured: Pepperell was sentenced to 10 months, to be served at Les Nicolles Prison. 

Pepperell grew up in London, where he used to work in theatre, and moved to Guernsey 2007 having visited the island regularly as a child. Since moving over he has worked in hotels, been involved with the Town Church, volunteered with hospital radio, worked at the Alzheimers residential home and regularly helped out at the Salvation Army Christmas party.

His lawyer said he had lost his previous immaculate good character and also his job, and therefore his housing licence, meaning he has to leave Guernsey, a place he loves. "He’s lost a lot already," said Advocate Steel, asking the Judge and Jurats to hand down a suspended sentence. 

The Judge refused to though, giving Pepperell a 10 month prison sentence, effective from the date he was arrested, 19 December, 2018, with an extended sentence licence for 2 years and a five year notification order. That means he will have to tell the police exactly where he lives and disclose his personal details at random intervals when requested, on his release from prison. 

Judge Russell Finch, flagged by nine jurats, said he was guilty of attempting to incite a child of 14 to commit an act of gross indecency, but they accepted the circumstances were unusual. 

Judge Finch said; "we hope they remain so."

He said the unusual element was that Pepperell thought he was conversing with a 14-year-old called Daniel, but that in reality it was a woman in Jersey who poses online to catch men like him out.

Judge Finch said the messages he sent were "explicit and deplorable" and directed at who he believed at the time to be an underage boy. 

"You actively encouraged him to come to Guernsey," said Judge Finch, adding that Pepperell did accept that he had been grooming a 14-year-old school boy. There was full unlawful intent on Pepperell's part said Judge Finch, but he sought to minimise his culpability when talking to the probation officers which was "unsatisfactory".

Accepting that Pepperell had lost his job, and would leave the island after serving his jail sentence, Judge Finch said, this is a "personal tragedy for you – you should not have done it."

He told Pepperell it was he who is responsible, but Judge Finch said these matters should always be dealt with by law enforcement officials who have had the correct training.

"Although you broke the law, we do think it would have been easier to deal with if Guernsey Police or Guernsey Border Agency had been involved", he said.