Decoy sting: Antrim man admits attempted sexual communication with a 'child'
A Co. Antrim man has admitted attempted sexual communication with a child after he was snared in an undercover sting operation.
On Tuesday at Antrim Magistrates Court, sitting in Ballymena, defence counsel Grant Powles confirmed that 41-year-old Stuart Peter Rawlinson was entering a guilty plea to the single charge against him.
Rawlinson, from Birch Hill Park in Antrim, is accused of attempted sexual communication with a child on dates between 31 March and 24 April this year.
The particulars of the offence disclose that for the purposes of obtaining sexual gratification, Rawlinson “intentionally attempted to communicate with a person under 16 years, the communication being sexual or intended to encourage the said ‘child’ to make a communication that was sexual, and you did not reasonably believe that ‘child’ was 16 years or over”.
Although the facts of the case have not been fully opened, the court has heard that “it’s a decoy case”, rather than involving a physical child.
Following the guilty plea, Mr Powles asked for sentencing to be adjourned while the Probation Board compiles a pre-sentence report.
A PPS lawyer also confirmed there will be an application for a Sexual Offences Prevention Order.
Although District Judge Nigel Broderick freed Rawlinson on bail and adjourned the case to 8 January, he ordered the 41-year-old to now sign the police Sex Offenders Register.