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Penticton  

Man sentenced for texting teen

A 24-year-old Penticton man was sentenced to 30 days in jail, followed by one year probation, for engaging in texting of a sexual nature with a 15-year-old girl.

The man, who is not named because of a publication ban on the girl's name, was led from a Penticton courtroom Monday to begin serving the time immediately.

The charges he faced included communicating via computer to lure a child under 16 and exposing genitals to a person under 16.

According to crown counsel Catherine Crockett, the man texted the teen between August and September of 2012.

Some of the texting was sexual in nature, because the man sent pictures of his genitals.

The pair did talk about meeting, but never did. The texting came to an end when the girl's parents looked at her phone.

The man's defense lawyer Ian McAndrews said his client played hockey and is now a machine operator, currently working in the oil patch, north of Fort St. John.

In this case, he works 20 days in and 10 days out.

He is taking time off work to serve the sentence because he wants to get it done all at once, said McAndrews.

In handing down the sentence, Judge Gale Sinclair told the man,"it is an unfortunate set of circumstances you find yourself in young man."

Furthermore, he is to have no contact with the teen and will be on the sex offender registry for 10 years.

 

 

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