A Pembroke man contacted underage girls, sending one a photo of a penis and asking them for indecent photos and about the size of their breasts.

John Walters, of Cromwell Court, appeared at Swansea Crown Court for sentencing today, Tuesday, June 14.

Walters, 57, had previously admitted three charges of being an adult engaging in communication of a sexual nature with a child.

Swansea Crown Court heard that Walters had engaged in communication with the profiles of three young girls on an online app.

Unbeknown to him they were decoy accounts run by vigilantes.

Between March 28 and April 15 last year restaurant worker Walters, was in correspondence with what he believed was a 13-year-old girl.

He told the teen that he was 45. He asked her about the size of her breasts and persistently asked for photos of her breasts, in her bra and in her school uniform.

He wrote graphically to her about sex, as well as sending her a photo of a penis.

In a second exchange with what he thought was a 12-year-old girl in May last year he asked the child if her breasts were developed and if she had reached puberty.

Again he persistently asked the girl for naked photos and photos of her breasts, asking if she had seen a penis and saying that her age didn’t matter.

The final exchange of messages was with whom he believed to be a 14-year-old girl. He asked about the size of her breasts and for photos of her in her bra and in her school uniform.

The court heard that the vigilante group tracked Walters down a restaurant in Tenby where he worked and confronted him. They then handed their evidence over to the police who seized Walters’ mobile phone.

In interview he said that he had asked one of the girls for photos as he didn’t believe who she was, not for sexual gratification, and that he had downloaded the penis photo from the internet.

The court heard that Walters had 27 convictions for 43 offences but nothing since 2011 and none for offences of a similar nature.

Passing sentence Mr Recorder G Bull, QC, said: “Society looks down upon offenders like you,” he said. "Trying to contact children and by that contact corrupt them. That is a serious matter.

“The best outcome for society is that you have your mind set changed.”

The judge sentenced Walters to a two-year community order with a 20-day rehabilitation requirement and a requirement to attend the Horizon Programme.

Walters was also made the subject of a five-year sexual harm prevention order and will be put on the sex offenders register for five years.

He was also ordered to pay £200 costs and a £95 court surcharge, and a confiscation order made regarding the mobile phone.