Andrew Bowes: Registered sex offender jailed over messages to '14-year-old girl'
A registered sex offender who arranged to meet who he thought was an underage girl has been jailed.
Andrew Bowes, aged 48, was arrested on September 1 after communicating with who he thought was a 14-year-old girl.
Bowes, of Oakwood Road, Balby, Doncaster, asked the ‘child’, who was actually a decoy from an online child activist group, to share indecent images of herself before suggesting they meet face-to-face.
When he was caught out, he told the police “I was only messing about”.
After his arrest, a search of his phone led to the recovery of devices which showed the messages between Bowes and the decoy.
Bowes, who was handed a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) in 2020, was jailed for three years at Sheffield Crown Court last Wednesday (September 25) after pleading guilty to three counts of breaching his SHPO, attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and attempting to arrange or facilitate the commission of a child sex offence.
Investigations officer Fiona Booth, who was the officer in charge of the case, said: "Bowes believed he was speaking to a 14-year-old child, and yet he continued to make inappropriate sexual advances.
"A thorough search of his devices led to his crimes being exposed and in comments made prior to his arrest, he was heard saying 'I was only messing about', which shows how little responsibility he took for his actions.
"Bowes posed a high level of risk and we are pleased he has been given an immediate three-year custodial sentence.
"We will continue investigating the crimes of sex offenders like Bowes to stop them in their tracks and to keep children safe from online sexual predators."