Stefan Antonio Slack

Stefan Antonio Slack, a 27-year-old man from Harrogate, has been imprisoned for over three years after admitting to grooming an underage girl on Snapchat and breaching a court order restricting his contact with children.

The offences occurred in October 2018, when Slack, then aged 24, added the 15-year-old girl on the social media platform and began sending her sexually explicit messages. He attempted to entice her and her friend into meeting for 'group sexual activity' and detailed his sexual intentions in graphic terms. The girl blocked him and shared screenshots with her mother, who reported the matter to the police. Slack was arrested and, during questioning, admitted the messages were from him but claimed he was intoxicated and could not recall sending them.

At York Crown Court, Slack pleaded guilty to inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and breaching a sexual harm prevention order. The court heard he had a prior conviction in 2012, when he was 17, for a similar offence involving an 11-year-old girl, resulting in a suspended sentence. Recorder Dafydd Enoch QC remarked that Slack had “developed an unhealthy interest in minors” and failed to heed the previous 'warning shot', stating: “Once again…you allowed yourself to be tempted into communicating with (an under-age) girl. You took complete advantage of that situation.” He described Slack’s behaviour as “totally unacceptable” and “extremely serious conduct which could lead to much worse scenarios”.

In addition to the three-and-a-half-year custodial sentence, Slack was subjected to a new five-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register indefinitely. The case was prosecuted by North Yorkshire Police, as detailed in reports from The Stray Ferret.