A 53-YEAR-OLD man messaged who he thought was a 14-year-old boy and suggested having “a little bit of fun in a wood”.

Phillip Bowley was caught sending sexually explicit messages – including a picture of his penis – online to who he thought was an underage boy.

The account was actually a decoy account – referred to as ‘C’ in court – which was run by an undercover police officer.

Prosecutor Sian Cutter said Bowley had been messaging the ‘boy’ across the dating site FabGuys and WhatsApp.

Bowley first messaged the decoy on March 7 on FabGuys. C’s account showed he was 19 years old because of the site’s age restrictions.

The defendant messaged saying that he “would like to meet a young single guy” aged 18 to 25, Ms Cutter said.

The decoy said they were 14 and asked if that was okay, and Bowley replied: “Yes, as long as you are discreet”.

Swansea Crown Court heard that throughout the conversation, Bowley sent pictures of himself – including one of his penis – and twice offered to pay for C’s train so they could meet up.

Bowley said he “couldn’t wait to see [C’s] body” and that they “needed a cover story” in case his girlfriend found C’s number in his phone.

He also suggested that they would have “a little bit of fun in a wood” and spoke about oral and anal sex, Ms Cutter said.

Officers traced Bowley to his address, on the B4315 in Templeton, near Narberth.

He told the arresting officers he “knew what this is about” but that “it wasn’t intentional” and he had been “naive online”, Ms Cutter said.

In his interview Bowley told police that he didn’t have any sexual interest in children and that he had a girlfriend, and that messaging C was “escapism”. However, Judge Geraint Walters said Bowley’s statement was “nonsense”.

Bowley also told officers he thought C was lying when they said they were 14 as FabGuys had age restrictions.

The court heard that Bowley’s devices were seized by officers, but there was no further evidence of any searches, downloads, or conversations involving children.

David Singh, in mitigation, said the defendant admitted he “left his judgement at the door”.

“It was a foolish, ridiculous act,” Mr Singh added.

Bowley, who has no previous convictions, was jailed for nine months, suspended for two years. As part of this, he must complete 25 days of rehabilitation activity requirement.

He was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order and must register as a sex offender – both for 10 years.