When her mother posed as her daughter, she became a detective to find evidence about a paedophile. He had given the child ‘PE sex education’ lessons.
The woman went online and posed as the teenager after disgraced ex-football coach and former teaching assistant Edward Smith sent her daughter a barrage of explicit messages on Instagram.
Smith, 29 years old, asked for pictures of the girl underwear. Smith sent nude selfies without realising that he was sending the photos to her mother.
Later, she blocked Smith’s access and reported Smith to the police.
Investigative inquiries revealed that Smith was previously jailed for 33-months over his sexual affair with a 14-year old girl Smith had helped with homework and coached.
Because of this, he had already been placed on the Sexual Harm Prevention Orders (SHPO) sex offenders list and banned from communicating electronically with children.
His latest episode of offense he attributed to being “isolated” and “lonely” due to the pandemic.
Smith was sentenced at Minshull Street Crown Court Manchester for another 28 month after he confessed that he had attempted to engage in sexual communication with a child and breached the SHPO.
Edward Smith (pictured) confessed to engaging a child with sexual communication after sending an avalanche of explicit messages on Instagram to a 14 year-old girl.
Smith had previously been volunteering at a dog pound and illegally set up an Instagram profile. He tried to make friends with the teenage girl by following her account.
Laura Broome, prosecuting, said: ‘(The girl) received messages from him saying: “hey I’m hot” and she told her mother who then engaged in conversation with the defendant posing as her daughter.
She claimed that she was fourteen years old, and he wanted to move the conversation over to Snapchat. The defendant replied that he was only in his 20s.
“The messages turned sexually very fast and he offered PE sex education classes.
He said that he would show her how to kiss, and sent her pornographic videos claiming they would help her perform sexual acts. He wanted to know her bra size as well as what kind of knickers.
“He repeatedly asked for photos of the girl wearing her underwear, and sent pornographic films as well as pictures of females engaged in oral sex.
Smith asked Miss Broome for photos to be sent in breaktime after the girl said she couldn’t send them pictures because she was getting ready for school.
She said, “He sent me a photo of his penis to see what I thought.”
“The mother claimed that she hadn’t seen one since she was 14, and she felt ashamed. He replied that he’d send more. He then responded by saying he would send more.
The court heard that Smith was taken into custody last month when police found his IP address.
He had already deleted Instagram and Snapchat from his mobile phone, which was discovered when he checked it.
Later, he admitted to trying contact the girl but said that he was also communicating with other children.
The girl’s mom made a statement saying that the incident had caused her great concern. Fortunately, my daughter was smart enough to inform me about what was going on and she was able protect herself from becoming a victim to this man.
“My daughter is very upset. She is afraid of what might have happened if she didn’t tell me. It’s unfair that a child should be exposed to something like this.’
Smith (pictured), 29 years old, was previously sentenced for having an inappropriate relationship with a fourteen-year-old girl he met as a coach on her football team.
Smith tried to establish a romantic relationship in June 2017 with an underage girl that he met while coaching her football teams.
He had been helping her with math homework, and the court said he would take her to play football.
An eye witness saw them kissing outside a restaurant and arrested him. The witness recognized Smith because he had been a coach for her daughter and tipped the Football Association.
Police found pictures on Smith’s mobile phone of him and the girl semi naked and discovered he and the teenager had sex on one occasion – a month after they insisted to friends their friendship was ‘platonic’, the court was told.
Smith’s football coaching job was lost after that arrest. He also lost his position as a teaching assistant at high schools.
His conviction as a paedophile led to him being banned from sharing his home with his sister, 12-year-old. She has serious hearing impairment and is unable to communicate by telephone with him.
Julian King, the defence counsel for Julian King stated that his client suffered from mental issues. He added: “He lived with his father and grandparents, but it was Covid period. He felt increasingly isolated. He found locking down particularly challenging and made the difficult decision, very saddened.
Sentencing Smith, Judge Maurice Greene told him: ‘You say were you were isolated and lonely but be that as it may, it didn’t force you to do what you did. While it might have been a contributing factor to what occurred, the relevance of that fact is very limited.