Disgraced treasurer from Sunderland church tried to have sex chat with child

Stephen Lo wrote nine cheques totalling £7,633 to himself from the bank account of St Thomas and St Oswald's Church in Sunderland between June and October 2023 and left it overdrawn.

The vicar said Lo's dishonesty not only affected the church financially but added: "This has also had an impact on the people who attend church, they have lost their trust in the church."

Newcastle Crown Court heard when Lo's offending was exposed he split from his wife and lost contact with his family. Prosecutor Kevin Wardlaw said a few months after the marriage break-up Lo's daughter, who was a student, saw that he had a profile on Tik Tok that was following young females.

As a result, she and her friend set up a fake account of a child, Lo was snared tried to have sexual conversations with the profile, who claimed to be as young as eight, and has now been put behind bars.

Mr Wardlaw told the court Lo's daughter was at university and added: "At some point in September 2024, she was scrolling through her account on TikTok when a video containing an inspirational quote popped up on her page.

"She noticed it had been posted by her father, who she recognised on the account profile picture.

"She was curious about her father being on TikTok and noticed that he was following a lot of young females, ranging from girls wearing school uniforms to women in their 20s.

"On October 5 2024 she confided in a friend about her concerns and they decided to change the profile name of one of the friend's TikTok accounts to Katie.

"They sourced photographs online of a blonde teenage girl and in the profile bio they stated Katie was 14 years old. Both of them were behind Katie's communications with the defendant.

"After Katie commented with a heart on one of the quotes the defendant had posted, he requested to follow her. She accepted and followed him back.

"The defendant then initiated conversation by sending a waving hand emoji. "Katie told the defendant she had been to school and when he asked her if she was in a relationship, she said she had recently split from her boyfriend.

"The defendant asked to swap numbers and the conversation moved to WhatsApp and via text messages."

Mr Wardlaw said phone calls were exchanged and the daughter recognised her father's voice during the conversations.

He added: "During these calls, the defendant said he wished to take Katie on holiday to Tenerife or Ibiza, but he was worried about what her mother would think.

"Katie reassured him that she had been on sleepovers at friend's houses for three days and two nights, and the defendant said it would then be fine.

"Katie also told the defendant that she had lied about being 14, and she was actually 12 years old. The defendant told her he was 53 years old and that age did not matter and he was happy to continue talking to her.

"She told him about a fragrance she liked from Victoria Secret and he asked if she liked the lingerie in that shop. He also asked Katie her bra size and suggested meeting up in the next couple of weeks and he would bring her a thong.

"After the calls, they switched to messaging on Instagram.

"She posted a photograph on her story, and upon the defendant's request, she sent him some more photographs.

"He said she was gorgeous, and her breasts looked bigger than the A cup she had claimed to be. "In one of the photographs, Katie was hugging a teddy bear and the defendant said 'Aww that is so cute. Wish it was me'. "Katie asked if he had 'real man abs' and he replied that he had a 'dad bod lol'. This was then followed by a photograph of the defendant lying fully clothed on a bed followed by one of his bare stomach."

Lo then sent a more graphic photograph and said "now you" but his request was met with an excuse. The following day the fake profile made a post which suggested she was actually just eight years old and Lo responded with a shocked face emoji but told her: "I'm happy if you are happy with it".

The court heard the conversation ended and Lo was reported. Lo, 54, of Rothbury Terrace, Heaton, Newcastle, admitted fraud by abuse of position in relation to the church, attempting to engage in sexual activity with a child and breach of interim sexual risk order and notification requirements in relation to an undeclared phone.

He has been jailed for two years and three months and ordered to sign the sex offenders register and abide by a sexual harm prevention order for ten years.

Tony Cornberg, defending, said Lo had led a "normal, healthy, solvent family life" until the "sort of fall from grace you don't often see".

Mr Cornberg said Lo's downfall began when he lost his job and he created a "web of lies". Mr Cornberg added Lo ended up lonely and isolated but has worked hard in custody on remand and wants to "get out, get a job and be the best I can be".