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A man tried to sexually groom a 12-year-old girl after coming to the UK. Thangavelu Radhakrishnam targeted the child account while using the Chatiw website before switching to WhatsApp. The 39-year-old, from Green Lanes, Sutton Coldfield , sent explicit messages and links to bestiality videos. READ MORE: First picture of Broad Street thug, 18, jailed for three unprovoked attacks on nights out In fact he had been talking to an 'undercover operative'. Radhakrishnam, an engineer, had travelled to the UK from India in 2022 for better work prospects and somehow lost his £36,000 life savings, Birmingham Crown Court heard. On Friday, October 17 he received a two-year suspended sentence having admitted attempted sexual communication with a child and attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act. He committed the offences on May 27 this year. Radhakrishnam used the name 'I am untouched' on Chatiw when he first struck up conversation with the '12-year-old girl' account. Andrew Jordan, prosecuting, said: "He told her he was a 32-year-old Asian working in Birmingham . He offered a private massage at home and suggested he might travel to visit her." He added: "She told him she was 12 and he continued to speak to her by way of messaging in a sexual manner." Radhakrishnam told her she 'would be sexy when you turn adult'. He then sent an explicit image and video of himself performing a sex act as well as web links to videos of bestiality and a woman performing a sex act. Radhakrishnam also asked about the 'girl's' mother and suggested having sex with her. Mr Jordan said: "The undercover operative made a complaint to the police who then tracked the device used to contact the account." Police attended Radhakrishnam's address in Sutton Coldfield where he was renting a room from family members. He was not there so they went to his place of work where they found him. Two mobile phones were seized. Radhakrishnam had no previous convictions. Ashanti-Jade Walton, defending, told the court he 'excelled' educationally and professionally, becoming an engineer, before coming to the UK in November 2022 for 'better work prospects'. She said: "He had around £36,000 invested in a savings account in the UK. He effectively lost a lot that money, in fact all of that. "He was under a lot of pressure and was sent to the UK to send money back home. He accepts it is no justification for his offending." The barrister said Radhakrishnam had applied for a three-year extension to his 'skilled worker visa' but did not know the status of it since being remanded into custody. Judge Paul Farrer KC said the defendant was of previous 'positive good character', concluding he committed the offences 'at a chaotic period of your life when you were understandably distressed'. He suspended his two years' imprisonment for two years, ordering he complete 40 days rehabilitation activity and 200 hours of unpaid work. Radhakrishnam was also made the subject of a ten-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) and told to pay £500 in prosecution costs.
