A paedophile who asked his victim to send him explicit photographs while wearing a school uniform is now behind bars.
Sex offender Jack Hickey, 28, was described as a “predator” for trying to speak to children via online messaging platforms in his attempts to find a “secret boyfriend”.
In November 2023, Hickey, of Woodlands Avenue, Snodland, created a profile for Chat Avenue, an online chatroom service, before proactively targeting a user he believed to be a teenage boy.
After convincing his victim to communicate via Snapchat, which has privacy features such as disappearing messages, Hickey began sending them pictures and sexually explicit messages, including an indecent image of himself.
Digital analysts were able to identify Hickey as the offender and attended his address where they were able to match some wallpaper and missing coving in an image he had sent from his bedroom.
Hickey was arrested at the scene on November 30 and made the subject of a sex offenders notification requirement while he awaited sentencing.
Despite this, the following year he created another Snapchat account to talk to what he believed was another teenage boy.
Once more Hickey bombarded his target with lewd messages, repeatedly asking them to take part in video calls and take explicit photographs while wearing a school uniform.
Hickey eventually arranged to meet his victim in Canterbury after dark but was met by officers who arrested him again and remanded him in custody.
He pleaded guilty to attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, causing a child to look at an image of a person engaging in sexual activity, making indecent photographs, arranging a child sex offence, attempting to meet a child and breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
Appearing at Maidstone Crown Court on February 19, he was sentenced to four years and 10 months in prison.
Investigating officer detective Constable Steph Kirkin said: ”Hickey is a predator who targeted victims he believed to be young and vulnerable. He repeatedly sent his victims a barrage of lewd messages in a bid to coerce them into sharing content for his own gratification.
“Despite being captured and registered as a sex offender, Hickey shamelessly continued his abhorrent behaviour, resulting in a swift remand and custodial sentence.”
