Ashley John, aged 26, of Gwaun Cae Gurwen, Neath Port Talbot, West Glamorgan, was sentenced to three years and ten months in prison in July 2026 after pleading guilty to three counts of attempted child sexual exploitation.
The court heard that in October 2024, John utilized the Snapchat messaging application to communicate with a profile he believed was operated by a 12-year-old female child. To facilitate the grooming process, John fabricated a false identity, representing himself as a 17-year-old sheep farmer residing in South Wales. John escalated the conversations into explicit sexual communications, transmitting indecent images of himself to the recipient and making repeated requests for the child to send sexually explicit photographs in return.
South Wales Police officers initiated an investigation into the online activity, securing digital forensic data and chat records that identified John as the individual operating the account.
John was formally charged with three offences relating to the attempted exploitation of a child. Although he initially entered not guilty pleas during early court appearances, John altered his pleas on 6 July 2026, entering formal guilty admissions to attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, attempting to cause or incite a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity, and attempting to cause a child under 13 to look at an image of sexual activity.
In July 2026, the presiding judge sentenced John to a total custodial term of three years and ten months’ imprisonment for his crimes.
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