Newhaven man jailed for grooming children online while posing as teenage girl
He sent girls as young as 10-years-old explicit images using fake social media accounts
A 25-year-old man from Newhaven has been jailed after posing as a teenage girl to groom young girls on social media.
Mikey Winchester, of Gibbon Road, targeted three girls in 2022 and 2023, two of whom were 10 years old and one aged 13.
Sussex Police began investigating Winchester in May 2023 after being alerted by another police force.
That force reported complaints from two 10-year-old girls who had been sent explicit images by a Snapchat user named ‘avadunn2.0’.
This account, traced back to Winchester’s home, was being used by him to impersonate a 13-year-old girl.
Winchester reportedly interacted with both victims knowing they were children and encouraged them to send explicit images in return.
In August 2023, Sussex Police were involved in another investigation from a separate police force concerning a 13-year-old girl who had been groomed by an Instagram account named ‘dumbphoebelol’.
This account was also linked to Winchester’s devices, alongside 69 child sex abuse images and four extreme animal pornography images.
Winchester faced multiple charges including sexual communication with a child, inciting sexual activity with a child, making indecent images of a child, and possession of extreme pornography.
On 17th December 2025 at Lewes Crown Court, Winchester pleaded guilty to all charges and was sentenced to four years in jail.
He was also given an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order and required to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register.
Detective Constable Gary Baker described Winchester as a “calculating, predatory offender” and commended the victims and their families for reporting the cases promptly.
Baker also reminded families about the importance of online safety and the risks posed to children by offenders.