A man who sent explicit messages to an underage girl – again – was warned he faces an immediate spell in jail.

Matthew Meyer, 29, was locked up for a year in 2013 when he sent x-rated texts to what he thought was an 11-year-old girl but were, in fact, replied to by the child’s mother.

Almost a decade on, he appeared in the dock at Oxford Crown Court on Thursday facing similar charges.

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Meyer, of Stockham Park, Wantage, pleaded guilty to attempted sexual communication with a 13-year-old girl in June last year and attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act.

Adjourning the case for the preparation of psychiatric and probation service reports, Judge Maria Lamb said: “I am quite clear that at the front of the court’s thinking is going to be an immediate prison sentence and you need to understand that.”

She bailed Meyer to return to court on August 12, but warned him not to ‘hold out’ hope for anything other than a jail sentence.

Julian Lynch appeared for the defendant.

In 2013, Oxford Crown Court heard how Meyer, then 20, swapped messages with an 11-year-old girl over several months via the smartphone app Kik Messenger.

When the girl received a text asking if she was naked, she showed it to her mother. The mum replied on her daughter’s behalf, prompting Meyer to send further explicit exhortations to perform sexual acts as well as sending photographs of his genitals.

She called the police and was said to have been left ‘stressed and sickened’.

Judge Patrick Eccles, who jailed him for 12 months, said despite various learning difficulties and mental health problems, the defendant must bear some ‘moral culpability’ for his actions.

He said: “The court has to serve victims and their parents who, frankly, would not feel their children were protected if there were not to be a sentence of imprisonment in this case.”

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John Waller, defending in the 2013 case, said Meyer had an IQ of 74, had never had an adult relationship and suffered from autism and attention deficit disorder.

“He doesn’t understand how relationships are formed, he has never engaged in sex himself and there is a naivety there about how relationships work,” the advocate added.

The more serious charge Meyer now faces, of attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act, carries a maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment. Penalties vary depending on the culpability of the offender and whether the child was real or the invention of a vigilante 'paedophile hunter' group.

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This story was written by Tom Seaward. He joined the team in 2021 as Oxfordshire's court and crime reporter.  

To get in touch with him email: Tom.Seaward@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @t_seaward