Man sentenced to three years in prison for child sexual offences

A 46-year-old man has been sentenced to three years in prison for various sexual offences including attempting to engage in sexual communication with children and possessing indecent images of children.  He will also be added to the sex offenders’ register for life.

Lee Greenhill, 46, of St Cecilia Close in Kidderminster, was sentenced on Friday 26 May, 2023. He had previously pleaded guilty to:

• Three counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child
• Possession of indecent images of children
• Attempting to cause a child to look at images of sexual activity
• Distributing an indecent photograph of a child
• Possession of images portraying sexual acts with an animal.
• Breaching a sexual harm prevention order.

On 17 January 2023 officers from the Online Child Sexual Exploitation Team (OCSET) arrested Greenhill for attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child. West Mercia Police received information that Greenhill had engaged with two girls on the internet, both under 16.

During the conversations Greenhill used photos of other young men and pretended that he was a rich businessman.  He showed the children photos of luxury yachts and cars telling the children that he would take them on them. The conversations included that Greenhill intended to have sexual intercourse with the children and included the sending of explicit pictures and videos to them.

Following his arrest, examinations were carried out on all his devices, which provided further evidence.

Greenhill was charged on 18 January, 2023, despite denying the offences during his interview after he was arrested.

Detective Sergeant Dave Meyer of the West Mercia Police OCSET team, said: “I’m pleased that Greenhill will now face the consequences for his actions, and will rightly be identified as a sex offender for life. There is no doubt that he poses a threat to young people and without our intervention may have gone on to groom others online, escalating his behaviour towards contact offending, something we work day-in and day-out to prevent.

“This case is testament to the fact that our close relationships with partners in Regional Organised Crime Units, children’s services and the charitable sector are paying dividends in our fight to protect children online.”

Issued by LS, Corporate Communications.