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An intensive care nurse asked a teenage boy for “nice and naughty pictures” before arranging to meet at Bluewater for sex.
Rolly Flores, described as a “hard-working and valuable” NHS worker, indulged in sexual chats with the 14-year-old on Grindr and then WhatsApp.
Maidstone Crown Court heard that despite being aware of the youngster’s age, he solicited images from him and provided access to a file containing two sexual images.
Arrangements were then made by the 37-year-old to meet the boy at the Greenhithe shopping mall with the intention of having sex back at his home.
But despite having second thoughts and cancelling the rendezvous out of “horror and regret”, Flores was arrested.
Unbeknown to the Philippines national, the teen he had been grooming was in fact an undercover officer, the court was told.
Although Flores gave two “no comment” interviews and denied a sexual interest in children, he later pleaded guilty to attempted sexual communication with a child and arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence.
“He is deeply remorseful for his actions and conduct with this supposed youngster. He takes full responsibility...”
At his sentencing hearing on Tuesday (January 28), prosecutor John Connor said contact was first made between the defendant and the “boy”, who used a made-up name, in June 2023.
Despite Grindr requiring its users to be 18, the court was told the boy “made it quite clear” he was 14.
However, an undeterred Flores asked if he had “any nice and naughty pictures” before sending the two sexual images.
The communication then switched to WhatsApp at Flores’s request when the “boy” said he had been kicked off Grindr for being underage.
Having revealed he worked for the NHS, Flores continued with the explicit chat, said Mr Connor, and “pressed to meet the boy” for the distinct purpose of sexual activity”.
They then discussed meeting at Bluewater shopping centre but Flores soon had second thoughts and concocted an excuse that he was needed at work.
Police however stepped in and arrested him after becoming aware he may have been leaving the country, the prosecutor told the court.
The offences were committed over a week.
When asked by the judge what, if any, images the undercover officer had sent to Flores, Mr Connor replied it was “not of a sexual nature” and simply showed a 14-year-old boy “standing in the street”.
Nadia Semlali, defending, said that in the intervening months between arrest and sentencing, Flores, of Victoria Road, North Acton, London, had lost his nursing job and was being supported financially and with accommodation by the Philippines embassy.
“You have lost a lot as a result of your offending, including your self-respect and, I have no doubt, the profession you have worked so hard on...”
She added he had also made efforts to rehabilitate himself by completing courses with abuse charity, the Lucy Faithfull Foundation.
“He is deeply remorseful for his actions and conduct with this supposed youngster. He takes full responsibility,” Ms Semlali told the court.
Of his decision to cancel meeting up with the “boy” at Bluewater, she explained Flores, who came to the UK in 2021, had “instantly regretted” making the arrangement.
Urging the court to spare him jail, Ms Semlali added: “This is a man who sadly made a very bad judgement call when he engaged in conversations with the undercover officer.
“He really just wants to put it all behind him and try to rebuild his life.”
In deciding that he could punish by way of an alternative to immediate custody, Judge Oliver Saxby KC cited Flores’s previous good character and guilty pleas, the fact he brought his conduct to an end, the realistic prospect of rehabilitation, the current prison overpopulation and that any risk posed was manageable in the community.
Furthermore, the delay in legal proceedings was “unreasonable”, he added, telling a crying Flores: “I am told, and I accept, the last 20 months have been a nightmare for you as you have waited to hear your fate.
“Your reaction now in the dock underlines that analysis. You have lost a lot as a result of your offending, including your self-respect and, I have no doubt, the profession you have worked so hard on.”
He also said that any element of grooming was limited and short-lived, and no harm actually resulted from his offending.
Imposing a two-year jail term suspended for two years, Judge Saxby highlighted the need to balance “appropriate punishment and rehabilitation”.
“In a year’s time, the restrictions placed on you by the requirements of the suspended sentence order will begin to get in the way of your life...”
“I remind myself that, unless imprisonment is necessary for the protection of the public, the court should always give consideration to whether the aims of rehabilitation and thus reduction of crime cannot better be achieved by an alternative,” he explained.
“I have decided this sentence can be suspended. That you desisted voluntarily, that your intention was therefore short-lived and that the reason for desisting was real regret and horror at what you were getting into are the keys.
“But there will be requirements. These will be onerous. And they are designed both to rehabilitate and to punish.”
Ordering Flores as part of his sentence to complete the sex offender Horizon programme, up to 40 hours of a rehabilitation activity requirement and 280 hours of unpaid work, Judge Saxby added: “Mr Flores, you are lucky, you are very lucky.
“You may, as you leave court, be relieved and I am sure in six months time you will still be relieved.
“In a year’s time, the restrictions placed on you by the requirements of the suspended sentence order will begin to get in the way of your life.
“They are intended to. That is very much part of the deal. The sentence is rehabilitative and punishment.”
Flores will also be subject to a sexual harm prevention order and sex offender notification requirements for 10 years.
No details about his nursing career in respect of where he was employed and by which NHS trust were mentioned in court.
According to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) website, however, he worked in Kent and in December last year an interim conditions of practice order previously imposed was replaced with an interim suspension order.
A final meeting to confirm the suspension is expected within six months.