Crown Advocate Fiona Russell told the Magistrate’s Court the “sexually suggestive” conversations were in fact with several individuals posing as children as part of an informal child protection network, commonly known as “paedophile hunters”.
Among the messages to the three accounts were references to how he would like to teach them how to kiss, how he wanted to bathe with them, requests to meet in person, asking them to undress out of their uniform, how he wanted to be more than friends, and that the conversations should be kept private.
He also sent nude images of himself.
Materials were handed over to Guernsey Police after a member of the decoy network travelled to the island, went to Hutchinson’s home address, and confronted those there.
Hutchinson gave no comment responses at interview after being arrested. He had no relevant previous offences.
Advocate Liam Roffey, defending, accepted that the custody threshold had been met but said his client was terrified of prison on account of his autism and anxiety for which he has required “support in all aspects of his life”.
He hadn’t been diagnosed with autism until he was charged with the offences, which may have affected the support he had received throughout his earlier life.
The overwhelming events of having people attend his address unannounced and the criminal proceedings had led him to attempt to take his own life, he added.
Advocate Roffey noted that the idea of him travelling to meet people not known to him was a “fantasy” as he is reluctant to meet strangers or travel far from home.
A Court of Appeal case was cited involving similar circumstances in which the element that no real child victims were involved was considered crucial to sentencing considerations.
Advocate Roffey said he was a highly regarded colleague at his workplace of over three decades, where he is no longer employed, and always showed a willingness to help others.
He asked for the court to impose a probation order and asked for a “second chance”.
Judge Gary Perry said the offences were “very serious” and “sexually aggravated”.
The fact the account holders were adults didn’t reduce the seriousness of the crimes but did remove an aggravating factor, he added.
The decoys were praised for detecting and exposing the crimes, but Judge Perry condemned their actions in confronting those at Hutchinson’s home which he said could’ve led to the destruction of evidence prior to police getting involved.
He concluded that a suspended sentence was not appropriate given the details and sent Hutchinson to Les Nicolles for a combined total of 10-and-a-half months, as well as issuing an eight-year notification order.