Ballymena 'creep' who sent sexually explicit messages to girl is back in court for breaching Sexual Offences Prevention Order
A 'creepy' Ballymena man sentenced in 2021 for sending sexually explicit messages to a 15-year-old girl on Instagram, has been back in court and admitted breaching a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO).
The 57-year-old breached the Order on July 2 by having the social media app 'Telegram' on a mobile phone, an act he was prohibited from doing under the SOPO.
At Ballymena Magistrates Court on Thursday, Adrian Robb, with an address listed as Broadway Avenue, pleaded guilty to the breach of the SOPO.
Full details of the breach case have yet to be outlined to the court.
District Judge Nigel Broderick said the defendant "has done this before" and had previously received Community Service.
The current case has been adjourned to September 10 for a pre-sentence report. Robb had been given the SOPO after appearing at court in August 2021.
That court was told Robb had a "colossal fall from grace". Five years ago he had pleaded guilty to a charge of 'sexual communication with a child'.
The charge was that between October 1, 2019, and April 22, 2020, 'for the purpose of obtaining sexual gratification, intentionally communicated' with a girl, 'and the communication was sexual or was intended to encourage' the girl to 'make (whether to you or to another) a communication that was sexual' and the girl was 'under 16 and you did not reasonably believe that she was 16 or over'.
A prosecutor told the 2021 court police received a report from a woman about "unwanted messages, sexual in nature" which her daughter had received from Robb through Instagram.
The prosecutor said Robb had described the teenager as 'looking sexy' and told the girl her 'dark lipstick made her lips stand out and more kissable'.
There were also references to ‘Brazilian waxing and kissing technique’.
A defence barrister told the 2021 court that when arrested the defendant admitted the offence which involved "text communication with a young girl".
He said Robb had "a colossal fall from grace" and the defendant had to leave his home; lost his job and his marriage was over.
The barrister said the defendant had been in a "very low place" at the time of the offending. The lawyer said the impact on the victim should never be forgotten.
The lawyer said the offending had "massive ramifications" for Robb who had "sought solace" with a church where pastors had been attempting to get him to "rationalise and realise" what he had done.
The barrister said a Probation report indicated Robb was a "low risk" of re-offending.
In 2021, Deputy District Judge Trevor Browne said the case was "very disturbing" for a number of reasons, not least the age of the girl involved, and the defendant had "indulged in what can only be described as creepy behaviour over a sustained period of time".
The judge added: "Each time he did it he must have known what he had done before, yet he didn't take the opportunity to reflect on where this was going and the effect on the girl involved."
Judge Browne said the defendant's reputation and the fabric of his family and working life had "disintegrated".
He noted that although Robb was "seeking help from his church" professional help was also needed to stop his "proclivity to engage with" a teenage girl.