Mum gets horrific message from 'friend' about kids - and goes straight to police
A mum was horrified when a "friend" sent her a message on Facebook including a number of images of young girls - and went straight to the police.
Paul Smith, 48, sent offensive, obscene and indecent messages to four different women between August 2020 and January 2023. In one message the man, from Waterloo, Merseyside, told a woman he would take the children on a "sly date".
When the woman told him to stop saying she "was a baby", Smith replied: "She is gorgeous though man, she's at least 14." The woman said she cut off all contact with Smith and went straight to the police.
Smith was jailed for 10 weeks on September 19 at Liverpool Magistrates' Court after he pleaded guilty to four charges of sending offensive/indecent/obscene/menacing messages on a public communication network. He was also ordered indefinite restraining orders against the four women, reports the Liverpool Echo.
One of the women who received sick messages from Smith was Rhiain Mort. The 39-year-old said she had been friends with Smith for 20 years before he sent an obscene message on Facebook in January.
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In the messages, Smith begins by describing his reported sexual relations with another man. He then said "to cut a long story short" he helped paint the nails of an 11-year-old girl who was naked. He said: "Long story short, ended up doing the nails of his daughter while he was doing her hair. She was going to a party and I helped choose her outfit."
Smith then followed up and said: "Is that dodge city?" He then added: "She was 11, looked 18, and happened to be naked at times. Felt I was being a wrong'un." In the messages, Rhiain told Smith she was "disgusted" and the behaviour was "deplorable". To this, he said: "No one touched anyone. Sorry if you think otherwise man, nothing occurred."
In further messages, Smith said: "Please excuse me for missing things here man, no abuse took place. She was out the bath so in a towel, briefly naked and trying on outfits, came back to bed and went to bed. Millions of folk dress their kids for a party man, doesn't make it sinister. I'm upset you automatically thought it was and I'm capable of that tbh. I'll leave alone mate."
Rhiain cut off all contact with Smith and went straight to the police to report him. She claimed that Smith "groomed" her before sending obscene messages. Speaking to the ECHO, she said: "I have known him for the best part of 20 years. He kind of takes you into his confidences and shares things you would expect a close friend to share with you. My limit and my response was always 'as long as it was between consenting adults'.
"He would tell me about meeting men on the internet and my concern always came from 'you need to look after yourself and you can't go on these exchanges without telling us because we don't know if you are missing if you don't come home'.
"But it was actually January when he told me he was in a house with a man he met on the internet and there was a naked 11-year-old girl and he was painting her nails. Obviously, my response to that is no, no grown man who is not the caretaker of that child should be in the room with a naked 11-year-old girl and this is not OK."
She added: "I did my moral and legal duty of reporting him to the police and he was arrested." Three other women came forward with messages from Smith which Rhiain described as "verbatim" to the ones she received.
The mum also said many of the women had also offered financial as well as emotional support to Smith. Another woman who was targeted by Smith came forward and described the same pattern of behaviour. In messages to the woman back in 2020, Smith sent a number of images of young girls and said how he would take one on a "sly date".
He said: "I would actually ask the first one out on a sly date, she’s stunning." The woman told him to stop, in which he replied: "She is gorgeous though man, she's at least 14."
In further messages, the woman asks Smith what would happen if a child he knew was abused, in which he replied: "That’s tricky. A dark part of me imagines watching it. You did ask like." The woman, who wanted to remain anonymous, said she cut off contact and reported the messages to police. She said she believes people need to know about Smith's behaviour.
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She said: "He's obviously got a lot of paraphilias, but what I cannot understand is this weird thing he has where he drags women into it." Rhiain and the other victim said they hope sharing their story allows women to come forward if they have suffered this type of behaviour.
Rhiain said: "I want women to know that if you get unsolicited messages or we have someone in our life that is manipulating us like this, they can go to the police and they will be listened to, that's all we want. And we want other people who have experienced this to come forward."
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