A 65-year-old Cornwall man who used online dating and messaging applications to groom and incite a child under the age of 13 into sexual activity has received an immediate custodial sentence of four years and six months at Truro Crown Court.
Christopher Stevens, residing at Chywoone Hill in Newlyn, appeared in the dock for sentence on Friday 8 May 2026 after having entered a formal guilty plea on 13 April to serious online child sexual exploitation charges.
The prosecution outlined that Stevens initially established contact with the child via an online dating application. He subsequently migrated the conversation over to a secondary private messaging platform, where the communications escalated into the sharing and solicitation of explicit sexual content.
The unlawful contact was uncovered when the young girl’s father conducted an inspection of her mobile phone handset. Upon discovering the inappropriate exchanges, the father immediately terminated the communications and contacted Devon & Cornwall Police to initiate a safeguarding investigation.
Officers arrested Stevens and secured digital evidence from his devices that substantiated the illicit communications. Confronted with the evidence, Stevens admitted:
One count of causing or inciting a child under the age of 13 to engage in sexual activity
Under the provisions of the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1992, the child victim is protected by mandatory, lifelong statutory anonymity. Any publication, broadcast, or public dissemination of information capable of leading to the identification of the child is strictly prohibited under UK law.
Sentencing Stevens, the presiding judge highlighted the predatory nature of using social and dating platforms to target a child under 13, handing down an immediate prison term of four years and six months.
The court further imposed a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO), which enforces rigorous conditions governing Stevens’ internet access and prohibits unsupervised contact with children upon his eventual release.
Stevens was also made subject to indefinite statutory notification requirements on the Sex Offenders Register.
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