Barry Lee, aged 49, of Marine Road, Pensarn, has been sentenced to two years’ imprisonment at Mold Crown Court after sending explicit images and sexual messages to an undercover profile he believed belonged to a 14-year-old girl.
The court heard that Lee initiated and escalated conversations online, steering interactions into sexually explicit topics. Lee transmitted an indecent photograph of himself and actively solicited illicit images in return. Unbeknownst to him, the account was a sting decoy operated by an independent child protection group.
The evidence was reported to North Wales Police, who executed an arrest at Lee’s home on 7 September 2026. Forensic seizure and examination of his mobile handset revealed transcripts of sexually explicit exchanges conducted under two distinct false identities between late August and early September.
The court was informed of Lee’s extensive criminal history. He possessed six previous convictions covering 19 offences, featuring prior convictions for sexual communication with a child, attempting to cause a child under 16 to watch a sexual act, and sending indecent communications. Furthermore, Lee committed the current offences whilst subject to an active community order imposed for an offence of exposure, which he breached.
Appearing before Mold Crown Court, Lee entered guilty pleas to:
- Attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child
- Attempting to cause a child aged 13 to 15 to look at images of sexual activity
His defence counsel, John Wyn Williams, submitted mitigation citing an adverse childhood and early guilty pleas, arguing that Lee recognised his illicit tendencies.
Sentencing him, Judge Simon Mills rejected non-custodial alternatives, ruling that previous suspended sentence orders and community disposals had failed to deter his criminal behaviour. The judge noted that Lee’s actions came dangerously close to a higher tier of sexual offending and presented an escalating risk.
Judge Mills sentenced Lee to a determinate term of two years’ imprisonment, of which he will serve half in custody before becoming eligible for release on licence. Lee was categorised as a very high-risk offender, made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO), ordered to comply with notification requirements on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years, and deprived of the mobile phone used in the commission of the offences alongside a statutory victim surcharge.
Image – Anonymous Artist Impression
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