Text message puts swimming coach in jail

When Craig Evans sent a sultry text to his girlfriend, the last thing he expected was to wind up behind bars. Yet that is what happened to the 24-year-old swimming coach from Birmingham, UK when he sent that message not only to his girlfriend, but his entire address book in his BlackBerry. That is a pretty embarrassing moment and one that would not easily be forgotten by friends or family for…forever.

Many of his contacts are his students, aged in their early teens, whom he coaches. When they received a message asking for “skin on skin” sex, that raised some eyebrows. As you might expect, the UK has laws about soliciting sex from minors. He was arrested for criminal mass text on charges of inciting a child to engage in sex. He was sentenced to 18 months in jail.

For what many would regard as a serious “fat-fingering” of messaging, that is a pretty brutal sentence. Fortunately for Evans, the presiding judge over the case agreed. Lord Justice Elias noted, “The facts of this case are rather unusual. Messages…were sent to every single contact in his phone, including members of his own family.” The Justice further cited Evans was misguided in how to use his BlackBerry and suspended the sentence under the circumstances which freed the embarrassed Evans from jail.

Evans is a free man. Free to face the merciless ribbing of friends, family and indeed his girlfriend