A man told a nine-year-old girl he would no longer “play games with her” if she did not show him her genitals, a court has heard.
Michael Hartley, 36, of Winter Grove, St Helens, appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on Wednesday after pleading guilty to six counts of inciting a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity. A court heard that one of the offences took place over a video call and another in a Whatsapp image.
Charlotte Kenny, prosecuting, told the court that the victim's father was checking his then 10-year-old daughter's phone and saw messages with Hartley on Whatsapp. He noticed that all messages prior to this date had been deleted but when checking the images on the phone, he saw pictures of his daughter’s genitals.
