A 33-year-old man was arrested by police at Manchester Airport as he stepped off a flight from Vietnam after a court heard he sent a series of “disgusting, perverted” messages to an undercover officer posing as a 13-year-old girl.
Matthew Garrod, of Leeds, had been living in Vietnam during the pandemic when he initiated contact with the decoy profile on Snapchat and the messaging app Kik in September 2021. Despite the profile explicitly featuring a “red warning” that stated, “Please don’t send me dirty Kik sexting,” Garrod ignored the boundary, instead attempting to groom the individual he believed to be a minor.
Liverpool Crown Court heard that Garrod, who used the username “Matty Alex,” initially attempted to engage the decoy by sharing photos of his pets. He soon turned the conversation sexual, sending a graphic photograph of himself and asking the supposed teenager what she would like to do with it. He went on to make explicit arrangements to meet the child at a hotel, even suggesting that his friends could participate in the abuse.
The investigation was triggered when law enforcement officers, running a decoy operation, intercepted the communications. On May 9, 2024, as Garrod arrived at Manchester Airport, officers were waiting to take him into custody. Upon seizing his phone, they discovered the full extent of the graphic exchanges and evidence that he had searched for ways to delete his account after the interaction.
During questioning, Garrod claimed he was acting out a fantasy and insisted he believed he was speaking to an adult. However, during Monday’s sentencing hearing, Recorder Mark Cooper condemned the behavior.
“You engaged, in that 10-day period, in communications with a person who actually was a law enforcement operative. You were fully aware that she was 13 years of age,” the judge stated. “It is quite apparent to me that this was a disgusting, perverted fantasy.”
In mitigation, the defense argued that Garrod’s actions were influenced by the intense stress of the lockdown regime in Vietnam and his recent diagnosis of autism. The court was told that Garrod had shown remorse, had no prior convictions, and had since returned to stable employment in the UK.
Garrod pleaded guilty to attempted sexual communication with a child. He was handed a 12-month custodial sentence, suspended for two years. Additionally, he was ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work, a 25-day rehabilitation activity requirement, and pay £1,630 in court costs. He has also been placed on the sex offenders’ register for the next 10 years and is subject to a 10-year sexual harm prevention order.
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