A man from Accrington has been sentenced after he engaged in sexual conversation online with a girl he believed was 13.
Gavin Duckworth exchanged messages with the girl, asking for photographs of her, asking if she was sexually active and attempted to forge a friendship.
The person who Duckworth communicated with was in fact a decoy from an online group who identify adults who seek out children on the internet.
Duckworth chatted with the decoy for a few weeks, first via Facebook Messenger and then moving to WhatsApp where the messages became more sexual.
The online group reported the communication between Duckworth and the decoy to Lancashire Police, who launched an investigation.
Duckworth was arrested in July last year and his mobile phone seized.
Duckworth, 48, of Maudsley Street, Accrington, appeared for sentence at Blackburn Magistrates Court.
He had pleaded guilty to attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child between 24th June 2025 and 15th July 2025.
The magistrates sentenced Duckworth to 12 months imprisonment suspended for two years and imposed a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
He was ordered to attend 15 rehabilitation activity days and complete six months of alcohol treatment.
Det Con Lina Reid of the East Division’s Internet Child Exploitation Team, said: “Gavin Duckworth chose to engage in sexual messaging with someone he thought was just 13.
“This was concerning behaviour and resulted in him being put before the court.”
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