Man jailed for posing as teenage girl to groom children online

A Newhaven man who posed as a teenage girl on social media to groom several young girls has been jailed.

Mikey Winchester, 25, of Gibbon Road in Newhaven, targeted three girls – two aged ten, one aged 13 – on Snapchat and Instagram in 2022 and 2023.

Sussex Police first became aware of Winchester’s offending from another police force in May, 2023.

The force had received reports from two ten-year-old girls who had been approached by a Snapchat user using the name ‘avadunn2.0’.

The account known as ‘Ava’ was in fact Winchester pretending to be a 13-year-old girl.

Winchester sent both victims explicit images, before asking them to send explicit images of themselves in return.

Both victims had clearly stated they were young children in the chat with Winchester.

The messages were discovered on both children’s phones and the Snapchat account was traced to Winchester’s home address in Newhaven.

Officers visited his home on 18 May, 2023, arrested him and seized a number of digital devices.

In August, 2023, another police force transferred an investigation to Sussex Police of a 13-year-old girl having been groomed on Instagram by an account named ‘dumbphoebelol’.

This was again Winchester posing as a teenage girl to send explicit images and manipulate the victim into sending him explicit images.

Both social media accounts were linked to Winchester’s devices, as well as 69 child sex abuse images and four images of extreme animal pornography.

He was subsequently charged with three counts of sexual communication with a child, inciting sexual activity with a child (with and without penetration), three counts of making indecent images of a child (Cat A, B and C), and four counts of possession of extreme pornography.

At Lewes Crown Court on Wednesday (17 December), he pleaded guilty to all charges and was jailed for four years, given an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order and ordered to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register.

Detective Constable Gary Baker said:

“Mikey Winchester is a calculating, predatory offender who posed as a child to manipulate young children in the most appalling way.

“I would like to thank the victims and their families for raising the alarm as soon as Winchester’s offending was discovered, as well as our partner forces for supporting our investigation.

“Winchester’s offending is another unwelcome reminder of the dangers posed to children online.

"We will continue to work with our partners and other forces to identify and apprehend offenders, while educating families on steps they can take to keep their children safe online."