Colchester man jailed for child sexual offences
Lewis Plane was jailed for six years and will be subject to a lifetime Sexual Harm Prevention Order
A man has been jailed for six years and will be monitored by police for life after admitting to sexual activity with a child he groomed on social media.
The 33-year-old had messaged the victim on Snapchat in October 2023. Using a fake profile, he asked her to add him as a friend and told her he was 17 years old.
Knowing how old she was, Plane then sent the girl multiple inappropriate and sexualised messages, including videos of him performing indecent acts.
Within a few weeks of the initial online contact, they had arranged to meet in Clacton. They would later meet in Colchester.
These meetings happened regularly, with the victim believing she was in a relationship with the defendant.
This continued until the victim stop seeing the defendant in the Spring of 2025.
Through a separate investigation officers became aware of the victim and spoke to her. Following sensitive enquiries, she was able to confirm what had happened to her.
With the weight of evidence against him, Plane admitted three counts of sexual activity with a child, meeting a child following sexual grooming, sexual communication with a child and controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship.