Jail for sex predator who posed as 'Justin Bieber lookalike' to lure victim

A BALDING, overweight man who posed online as a teenage boy to sexually groom a young girl has been jailed for five years.

Fifty-year-old Tristan Jackman stole the image of a "Justin Bieber lookalike" to create a fake Facebook profile.

He then snared a teenage victim – described by the prosecution as "extremely vulnerable" – and persuaded her to send him graphic images and videos of herself.

Married Jackman, who ran the Newbury-based Sherrards Garden Services, also posed as a child in online chatrooms.

He was convicted of two sexual assaults by a Reading Crown Court jury following a trial in March.

Jackman, of Digby Road, Newbury, had already admitted possessing indecent images of children.

For the fake Facebook profile, jurors heard, Jackman used the photo of a Justin Bieber lookalike – a reference to the young pop singer – to groom his victim, telling her he lived nearby.

After he sexually assaulted her, Jackman tried to blackmail her into silence, the jury was told.

But when she went to police, he was arrested and interviewed in December 2015.

His devices were seized during a raid in May 2016, revealing the fake Facebook account and messages to the victim.

At a sentencing hearing at Inner London Crown Court last Thursday, Richard Witcombe, for Jackman, said: "He is on anti-depressants.

"It would be wise if that was kept up as quickly as possible, and he also has a treatment for high blood pressure.

"These matters have not been without effect upon him and not just on him personally, but on his family.

"As for his wife, who is in court, perhaps the best way of putting it is that she can't believe where we are and, of course, the burden that she will feel within her.

"He was the sole breadwinner. He was the sole income for the family. His business is being dissolved.

"The one employee he had is seeking work elsewhere."

He added: "He's a man of good character. He's never been in custody before.

"One of the main concerns is the fact he is fearful of what is going to happen to him. 

"We hope that in custody he can avail himself of some programmes."

In sentencing Jackman, the judge, Recorder James Wood QC, branded him "deceitful."

He added that Jackman had lied to the authors of his pre-sentence report when he repeated the claims – that the girl had invented the assaults – after conviction.

Recorder Wood told him: "You set up the Facebook account deliberately intending to obtain indecent images.

"You deliberately sent her messages that gave a wholly false impression intended to entice her to send sexual material of herself.

"I find this... was all intended to groom her."

As he was led to the cells, Jackman's wife shouted: "He's done nothing wrong."

Jackman will serve at least half his sentence before he is released on licence.

In addition, he was ordered to sign the Sex Offenders' Register and is subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

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