Man jailed after sending sexualised messages to 12-year-old from prison
The male was a serving prisoner at HMP Kirkham
A 47 year old man has been jailed for eight years and nine months after sending sexualised messages to a 12-year-old girl, using a contraband mobile phone.
Kevin Hardwick was a serving prisoner at HMP Kirkham at the time of the offences.
As well as messaging the girl, Hardwick was also in communication with at least one decoy – who Hardwick believed was a child.
He sent an image of a teenager, telling the girl he was 14-years-old. He knew the girl was only 12.
A search of Hardwick’s cell uncovered the hidden mobile phone. Following our enquiries, it was found that Hardwick had researched his own name, plus ‘social media for 11-year olds’ and ‘social media and child grooming’.
He was charged with possession of a specified item in a prison, attempt sexual communications with a child, sexual communications with a child, and inciting a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity including penetration.
Hardwick, 47, of no fixed abode pleaded guilty to the charges, at Preston Crown court on 17th September 2025, and was sentenced to eight years and nine months. He is also subject to an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
In a Victim Impact Statement, the victim’s mother said: “To find out a fully grown man was posing as a young teenage boy is quite frankly vile. And to find out this man was in a prison cell at the time made me sick to my stomach. How on earth was this male even able to have a phone in his cell?”
“We try not to hold her back through what has happened, but that feeling of dread of who or what she encounters in the wider world has been massively heightened and will stay with us forever because of this individual.”
DC Charlie Brown from Lancashire Police's Rape and Serious Sexual Offences team said: “Hardwick is a paedophile who lured a young girl into speaking to him, by posing as someone who is a similar age.
“His actions are sickening – it was clear that he knew what he was doing and had researched what platforms were best to groom children online.
“I hope the custodial sentence can bring the victim and her family, who have shown incredible strength in this time, some sort of closure.
“If you have been a victim of a sexual offence, please know that we will listen to what you report, and investigate it thoroughly to do all we can to get you justice.”