Latest Offenders York

Description

A dangerous and “devious” middle-aged paedophile posed as a teenage girl online to convince a 13-year-old to sexually experiment on herself.

But convicted sex offender Sukhpal Sidhu had no idea that the girl he was grooming was a decoy profile belonging to an online paedophile hunter group.

The 51-year-old, who was previously jailed for sex activity with a child, was handed an extended six-year jail term at Leeds Crown Court this week after the judge deemed him to be dangerous.

In November last year, just months after he was released from prison, Sidhu sent a friend request online to the profile who accepted it, but repeatedly told him she was just 13. He boasted that he was a businessman who was setting up a charity to help feed the homeless. He also turned to conversation sexually, saying he had women so turned on by his voice that they would say “dirty things” to him.

Having received a decoy photo from the supposed girl, he called her “beautiful”. He then bizarrely pretended to be a 14-year-old girl who had access to Sidhu’s account, and ramped up the sexual discussions, encouraging the victim to touch herself sexually, prosecutor Joel Wootten told the court.

He was eventually confronted by the paedophile group, C.O.S.T (Child Online Safety Team) after a week of swapping messages. They livestreamed the conversation over the internet in which he denied any wrongdoing. The police were called and he was arrested.

Sidhu had been jailed for eight years in 2015 for sexual activity with a teenage girl in Greater Manchester, having posed as a teenage boy to gain her trust. He denied the offences but was found guilty after a trial. It was heard that he would drive across the Pennines from West Yorkshire to meet the girl and have sexual encounters in his car.

As part of his sentence, he was given a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) to limit his internet use, and put on the sex offender register for life.

For his latest offending, Sidhu, of Bradford Road, Stanningley, admitted attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity, attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, breach of his SHPO, and an attempt to breach his SHPO.

He appeared in court via video link from HMP Leeds where he has been held on remand since his arrest.

Mitigating, Amber Walker said Sidhu accepted it would be a custodial sentence, but little else was said on his behalf.

The judge, Recorder Ian Mullarkey told him: “It was a fictitious profile to engage a girl in graphic sexual conversations. That devious, manipulative and cunning.

"It relied on sophistication to commit sexual offences against children. You were quite determined to persist in these conversations. You do not express any remorse or recognition of the harm this kind of offending causes.”

He said that Sidhu had refused to take part in a sex offender programme to rehabilitate him and . He jailed him for three years, with another three years extended licence.

Description

A MAN branded as dangerous by detectives has been sentenced to 12 years after admitting child sex offending.

Ryan Baskerville, 30, from Liversedge, was jailed at Leeds Crown Court on Tuesday after admitting sex offences against a young child.

The 30-year-old was sentenced to seven years in prison with five years on licence, and was also made subject of an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Leeds Crown Court heard that Baskerville's offending came to light after the victim spoke of what had happened prompting a report to be made to Kirklees Police.

A full investigation was launched by the Kirklees District Child Safeguarding Unit resulting in Baskerville being arrested and later charged.

DC Angus Whitehead, of the Kirklees Child Safeguarding Unit, who led the investigation, said: “I would like to praise the courage of the victim.

"They have shown great fortitude throughout the investigation and court processes.

“I welcome the sentence handed down by Leeds Crown Court to Baskerville for his abhorrent crimes.

"He is dangerous and manipulative offender.

“We would encourage any victims of unreported sexual offences whether recent or non-recent to come forward and contact the police. We handle all reports with the utmost sensitivity.”

Description

A sex offender who was caught by police returning to the scene of his crime has been jailed for over five years.  

Krisztian Glonczi (23) of Kilpin Hill Lane in Dewsbury was jailed at Leeds Crown Court today, Wednesday, December 13, to five years and three months after pleading guilty to an attempted rape and theft offences on Taylor Street in Batley on September 11 this year.  

Police were called during the afternoon of September 11 and took a report of an attempted rape of a woman in her 20s in a wooded area at the location.  

The victim had managed to fight off the attacker who had forced her to the ground. He then fled the scene with some of her property which he discarded nearby.  

The 23-year-old was identified as the suspect after a HMET detective conducting enquires in the area saw him walking down the road and recognised him from the CCTV images already obtained. He was stopped and arrested.  

He was not known to the police and further investigation established he had stalked his victim.  

It was confirmed that Glonczi had attempted to flee the country while work was ongoing to identify him but was unable to escape after losing his passport. 

Detective Inspector Guy Shackleton, who led the investigation said:

“Krisztian Glonczi is a dangerous sexual predator who stalked his victim before then attacking her in broad daylight.  

“She showed real courage in both fighting him off and then coming forward to report what had happened to her.  

“The victim’s actions enabled officers to very quickly mount a full investigation into what occurred and then identify Glonczi, a first-time offender who was not known to police.  

He added: “Reports of sexual offences are treated with the utmost seriousness by specialist detectives, with the most serious offences being allocated to the Homicide and Major Enquiry Team.  

“We always encourage all victims of such offences to come forwards to allow us to investigate and for partners to provide them with the help and support they may need.” 

Description

A convicted sex beast ignored strict requirements put on him as he repeatedly kept quiet to "avoid detection".

Matthew Nicholls showed a "flagrant disregard" of a court order when he remained silent and spent a large amount of time living with a woman at a house that the police knew nothing about.

The 44-year-old admitted two offences at Hull Crown Court of failing to register his details in connection with his requirements as a convicted sex offender.

Chloe Pinches, prosecuting, said that Nicholls was a registered sex offender after he was jailed for 10 months at York Crown Court in September 2019 for causing or inciting a girl under 16 to engage in sexual activity.

He had texted and sent messages to a girl on Facebook, Hull Live reports.

On June 1 this year, police were told that Nicholls had been staying at a house in East Yorkshire, and that he had not notified them. The woman who lived there was in a relationship with Nicholls and her child lived there.

The woman denied that Nicholls was in the house. "He was later found to be upstairs," said Miss Pinches.

The woman had started talking to him on an online dating site and they met at her home. He had moved in and spent time there over a period of about six months.

She was aware that Nicholls should have notified that he was living there, but she was trying to protect him from the authorities. He had been spending at least two days a week there.

"He purposefully chose not to notify the police," said Miss Pinches. "The child was put at some risk."

Hannah Turner, mitigating, said that Nicholls "fell deeply in love with" the woman and he fully accepted spending time at her house. "He was very candid about why he did what he did," said Miss Turner.

"This was a stupid decision on his part, perhaps a rather misguided way he was seeking to have a normal life and a family life. She was fully aware of this order being in place.

"She understood what orders were in place and why they were in place. He wanted her to be fully aware of the picture and what has happened in his past before she made any decision to have him as part of her family.

"He fully accepts that this was not the right way to go about this. They are still in a relationship. This is the defendant's first breach."

Recorder Taryn Turner told Nicholls: "You knew by dint of your conviction in 2019 that you became a registered sex offender. You were well aware of the implications of that order and what your obligations and responsibilities entailed.

"You were required to register at the local police station your address. Police were made aware that you had been staying at an address that was not registered to them as you living at.

"You made determined attempts to avoid detection and there was a very long period of non-compliance of around six to nine months. You had purposefully chosen not to call the police.

"You were deliberately avoiding informing your police officer who was supervising your order. You were deliberately avoiding telling him or her of your situation.

"This offence does demonstrate a flagrant disregard of court orders. You have deliberately chosen to ignore it."

Nicholls, a supermarket worker, now of Tadcaster, was given a one-year suspended prison sentence, 150 hours' unpaid work, 20 days' rehabilitation and a seven-month monitoring order. He was ordered to pay £425 costs and a previous sexual harm prevention order remains in place.

Description

A paedophile has had his prison sentence increased after he was found to have molested a second young girl.

The child's mother said Jonathan Gee was "dangerous" and that his behaviour had "destroyed" her life and that of her daughter.

Gee was told he must serve an extra three years after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting the child.

Gee, from Brow Wood Road in Batley, was jailed in June 2022 for seven-and-a-half years and made the subject of a lifelong sexual harm prevention order.

The sentence came after he pleaded guilty to two counts of sexually assaulting a girl under the age of 13.

He had originally pleaded not guilty at Huddersfield Magistrates' Court but changed his plea during the trial at Leeds.

Those charges related to a different victim.

At Leeds Crown Court this week (Wednesday 29 November), Judge Robin Mairs sentenced Gee to a further three years in custody, consecutive to that he is already serving, after new crimes came to light.

Lauren Hebditch, prosecuting, told the court that after his second victim's mother had seen he had been sent to prison, she asked her child if he had ever "played games" with her.

Ms Hebditch said: "The victim's mum saw that the defendant had been sentenced previously and had concerns and spoke to the victim and asked her some questions, and she said he did."

The court heard that the girl's mother called the police and officers were told by the girl that Gee, who appeared over a video link from HMP Leeds, had "pulled her pants down".

In a statement read to the court, the girl's mother said: "[My daughter's] behaviour has become hard to deal with. She can't control her emotions or anger. She wets herself on a daily basis.

"What he has done will always be there - no sentence will change that. He may have a short prison sentence but we have a life sentence. He has made me feel l have failed my daughter.

"I'm scared of the impact it will have as she grows. He's dangerous. He should never be around children again. When he is released he gets to start over and live his life. We can't. He destroyed our lives."

Ms Hebditch told the court that in the pre-sentence report prepared for Gee's last sentence, he was described as a "risk" and Judge Mairs concluded at the time that he was an offender of particular concern.

Kitty Colley, mitigating, told the court: "The best approach he has taken to assuage the guilt and shame and mitigate the pain he has caused to the victim's mum is pleading guilty and saving both her and her daughter from going through this process in court any further than necessary.

"He will not be released for some time and when he is there will be conditions on him in the sexual harm prevention order for life."

Description

A man from North Yorkshire has been sentenced to 13 months in prison after National Crime Agency officers recovered indecent images of children from his computers.

John Tesseyman was identified as part of an NCA investigation targeting UK nationals making payments to a Filipino family who facilitated child abuse.

Tesseyman was detained on suspicion of child sexual abuse offences by officers from the National Bureau of Investigation in the Philippines while visiting the country.

He was later released and returned to the UK, but was arrested by the NCA several weeks later at his home in Ingleton, Carnforth. During their investigation, officers identified that Tesseyman had made 53 payments, totalling approximately £2,700, to payees in the Philippines between March and October 2017.

On his arrest, NCA officers seized Tesseyman’s computers, which were found to have over 70 indecent images of children in categories A-C (A being the most severe) stored on them, including those of a Filipino child.

His internet search history demonstrated a strong sexual preoccupation with young children and contained graphic descriptions of child sexual abuse.

Tesseyman was charged with four counts of making indecent photographs of children.

Yesterday [24 November 2023] at Preston Crown Court, he was sentenced to 13 months in prison. He was also prohibited from travelling to a list of countries, including the Philippines, for 5 years.

The couple who facilitated the abuse of the children in some of the photos were both charged with offences involving the sexual exploitation of children. One of them has since been convicted, and is serving a 15 year term in prison in Manila.

National Crime Agency senior investigating officer, Daniel Waywell, said:

“The Philippines remains a key focus of our work to prevent child sexual abuse by UK nationals, and we have cultivated a close working relationship with partners in the area to combat these crimes.

“The investigation into John Tesseyman was the result of a concerted effort from NCA officers and our colleagues overseas, demonstrating our resolve to pursue and bring to justice individuals who pose a sexual threat to children.”

Description

A man who had a "sexual interest in teenage girls" cynically took advantage of two to commit repeated sexual offences against them over a period of about 18 months.

Laurence Gladwin at first groomed the girls with "friendly banter" but it soon progressed to sending messages to them before "quickly escalating" to having sex with one of them in his car and committing sexual acts in the car with the other.

He encouraged them to send him intimate pictures of themselves and he sent a video to one of the girls showing him committing a sex act, Hull Crown Court heard. Gladwin, 43, of Young Street, Withernsea, admitted seven offences of sexual activity with a girl while in a position of trust and four offences of making indecent images of children.

Robert Stevenson, prosecuting, said that Gladwin initiated contact with the girls. It escalated to meeting them and committing sexual acts with them or inciting them to do so.

He kissed one of the girls and he also repeatedly intimately touched her as well as causing her to commit a sex act on him. She later said that the behaviour started with banter and then escalated to frequent messages being sent before they later met up on several occasions in Gladwin's car.

He would drive to a secluded area of a public car park. She felt "out of her depth" and "pressured" into sexual behaviour. Gladwin suggested that they could go to a hotel but she refused and that brought an end to their meetings.

The girl later came forward, and after police became involved, Gladwin's phone was seized and the offences involving the other girl came to light. The indecent images were discovered.

The second girl initially denied any involvement but later gave details. Friendly banter with Gladwin led to messages being exchanged before matters "escalated quickly".

He picked her up in his car. They had full sex in his car on one occasion and at his home when his wife and children were not there. "He told her that he loved her and she reciprocated," said Mr Stevenson.

The girl said that she was a willing participant but later realised that this was because of the "significant power imbalance" between them. They met several times, initiated by him.

"She froze," said Mr Stevenson. "She didn't know what to do. It was her first experience with anyone. There were a number of incidents, all of a similar nature.

"She felt scared," said Mr Stevenson. "She feared him a bit because he had more power. There were no threats or force." She sent "nude pictures" of herself and he sent her a video of him committing a sex act.

There were 12 indecent images of the first girl, 81 indecent images of the second and 134 of other unknown girls on Gladwin's phone.

The first girl said in a statement that it was a "burden which she had carried for some time" and she now has a lack of trust. "She feels the defendant exploited her and she feels uncertain around new people," said Mr Stevenson.

"She feels emotionally damaged. She was not eating for a period. She still has sleepless nights and flashbacks. She feels that the defendant took advantage of her vulnerability."

The second girl said that she felt "used and taken advantage of" by Gladwin. "She finds it hard to trust people." She had a "very bad memory" of the incidents.

Nigel Clive, mitigating, said that Gladwin "thoroughly regretted" his actions towards the two girls and he had pleaded guilty at a very early stage and shown remorse. He had no previous convictions.

"For some time, he would have wished to have been able to apologise," said Mr Clive. "He can't turn back the clock. Sometimes such defendants try to play it out and that causes the complainant far more distress than the proceedings have perhaps done in this case.

"He accepts that he needs to be punished," said Mr Clive. "He is very disappointed, to say the least, in himself. It's caused some internal reflection on his part."

Father-of-two Gladwin's marriage ended and some "self-destructive and ill-thought-out life choices" followed.

"He accepts that he behaved in a terrible way," said Mr Clive. "This is not a defendant who will repeat such behaviour. He knows what he has done and he is very sorry."

Judge Kate Rayfield told Gladwin: "You plainly have a sexual interest in teenage girls," said Judge Rayfield.

Gladwin had shown some remorse but, after the police got involved, he telephoned one of the girls and asked her not to say anything if she was asked. This was "selfish" and did not show genuine remorse.

"There was grooming behaviour and you retained sexual images of your victims," said Judge Rayfield.

Gladwin was jailed for six years and he was given a sexual harm prevention order for life. He will have to register as a sex offender for life.

Description

Registered sex offender, Samuel Moodie, 55, of Burton-in-Lonsdale has been jailed for 20 months after being found with 30,000 indecent images of children.

Due to a previous conviction in 2017 for the possession of indecent images of children, Moodie was made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) which prohibited him from using or possessing any device which was capable of accessing the internet, without notifying police. The order also prohibited him from accessing any type of cloud storage, without declaring and providing access details to police.

Despite this, officers conducting a search at his property uncovered 30,000 indecent images of children including category A, B and C images across three devices along with the details for a Google Drive cloud account.

He was found guilty in September of three counts of making indecent images of children, one count of possessing a prohibited image of a child and breaching his Sexual Harm Prevention Order. He was jailed at York Crown Court on 10 November 2023.

Speaking after his sentencing today, Detective Constable Kerri Jones from the North Yorkshire Police Online Child Abuse Team, said:

“Despite already serving a prison sentence for a similar offence in 2017 and clearly knowing the terms of the Sexual Harm Prevention Order placed on him at the time, Samuel Moodie blatantly flouted the order and once again accessed and saved some truly hideous images of child sex abuse.

“I’m pleased he’s back behind bars, where he cannot play a role in sharing these disturbing and harmful images. Those who obtain and distribute child abuse material directly contribute to the sexual exploitation of children, because the children involved are continually re-victimised every time the images are shared and viewed.

“I’d like to thank the expertise of North Yorkshire Police’s Digital Forensic Unit and the dedication of my colleagues who have been involved in this investigation.

“I hope the sentence handed to Moodie sends a clear message that police can and will track down anyone involved in the making or sharing of indecent images of children and we will use our expertise to uncover the unquestionable digital evidence that will lead to a conviction.”

Description

A KEIGHLEY man arrested following a Facebook 'sting' has been jailed for two years.

David Houldsworth, 58, of Skipton Road, admitted two charges – sexual communication with a child and causing/inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

In addition to the jail sentence, handed down at Bradford Crown Court, Houldsworth will have to sign on the sex offenders register for ten years and will be subject to a sexual harm prevention order when he’s released.

Detective Constable Adam Flaxington, from the Bradford district policing online investigations team, says: "This was a lengthy, two-year investigation and I welcome the guilty plea and sentence the court has handed down.

"In Houldsworth’s conversations he demonstrated clear intent to commit sexual offending against young children, and it is fortunate the person he thought he was speaking with wasn't a child."

Description

A Northallerton man has been jailed after being found guilty of 16 child sex offences.

Raymond Douglas Mackley, 81, of The Green, Romanby, Northallerton, was sentenced to 12 years in prison at Teeside Crown Court on November 6. Mackley was also ordered to sign the sex offenders register for life and issued with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for life. In September, the sex offender was found guilty by jury of eight counts of sexual activity with a child, six counts of sexual assault against a child under 13, and two counts of causing a child to engage in sexual activity.

Mackley's sickening acts came to lights when one of his victims told a family member she had been abused by him as a child, but kept it a secret for years. Her disclosure also led to another victim coming forward who had also suffered similar abuse.

Investigating officer, Detective Constable Gillian Gowling of Northallerton CID, said: "Mackley carried out a blatant and sickening series of offences against his victims over several years, yet maintained his innocence throughout the investigation, showing no remorse for what he had done. The victims have shown great bravery in coming forward and providing the evidence that led to his conviction.

"They have lived with the secrecy of the abuse for many years and were initially reluctant to report it to the police, believing that nothing could be done or they wouldn’t be believed. The abuse and the burden of secrecy they carried has had a lasting impact on their lives that continues to this day."

Gowling added: "I hope the outcome helps them to put the past behind them, knowing that they were believed, that justice has been done, and that the only person responsible for this abuse is now behind bars. If you are a victim of sexual abuse, please do not suffer in silence, please report what is happening to you, whether it’s happening now or if it happened in the past.

"We will investigate thoroughly. Your information may also help to protect other people from abuse."

Description

The woman, who is in her 60s, was subjected to the terrifying attack carried out by pervert Lee Belsham, who has been handed an extended 10-year jail sentence.

The brave woman faced 38-year-old Belsham at Leeds Crown Court where she read out a statement on how the attack had affected her.

She said: “I thought I was going to die, I was so scared. That memory will live with me forever and haunts me to this day.”

Belsham followed the woman along the path on Sowgate Lane at Knottingley at around lunchtime on March 6 this year. He then “rugby tackled” her as she entered one of the small tunnels that run under the M62 and A1(M).

With her face down on the floor, he sat on her back and began to sexually assault her, touching her between her legs and putting his hands under her bra, repeatedly telling her that he would kill her if she screamed.

He dragged her to her feet told her to “drop them”, referring to her underwear. She then told him it was a busy path where people walked, and Belsham “came to his senses” before making off.

He was later arrested after nearby CCTV picked him up leaving the area, still wearing the same clothes. He was picked out by the victim and his DNA was found on her. Despite this, he continued to deny the offences, but changed his pleas to guilty, eventually admitting two counts of sexual assault and making threats to kill.

The court heard that Belsham, formerly of Ferrybridge Road, Knottingley, also admitted indecently exposing himself to two females on separate dates in June 2021, first dropping his trousers and masturbating in front of a female jogger, and then a 14-year-old girl two days later. They both happened on a towpath next to the River Calder at Ferrybridge.

He has more than 20 previous convictions, including many for violence.

Judge Simon Batiste jailed him for seven years, with a three-year extended licence period and put on the sex offender register for life. Referring to the sexual assaults, he said: “It’s clear you followed her for some distance. It’s evident the impact it’s had on her and will have life-long profound effects.”

Speaking outside court, Detective Inspector Rachel Darling from Wakefield District Safeguarding Unit said: “I would like to praise the victim for her bravery in coming forward to report the offences to police.

“She was subjected to a frightening and horrendous ordeal, but now I hope the sentence Belsham received will allow her some closure to what has happened.”

“I would also like to praise the tenacity of the investigation team here in Wakefield who worked diligently to ensure Belsham was brought to justice."

Speaking after the sentencing, Belsham’s victim, said: “I cannot fault the support and kindness that I have received from the police from the date this happened. Everything that the officer in the case has done for me is greatly appreciated.

“I have waited for this day for seven months and I feel I can begin again now and move on. I will not allow that man to destroy my life.”

Description

A 55-year-old former Suffolk teacher with an “entrenched sexual interest in children” has been jailed for nine years and two months for sexual assaulting a vulnerable former pupil.

Mark Langford met the girl while he was a middle school teacher in Suffolk, but he only began sexually abusing her after a chance meeting on a beach when she was 15, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

Marc Brown, prosecuting, said the victim had a number of problems which made her vulnerable to abuse.

He said Langford had sent her fantasy stories and pictures of himself in his underwear.

“The sexual contact between the defendant and the victim was born out of an imbalance of power and he took advantage of her youth, naivety and sexual immaturity and groomed her,” said Mr Brown.

He said Langford had picked the girl up from school and had groped her and put his hands inside her underwear.

The court heard he had also attempted to persuade her what she should tell the police if they contacted her.

Mr Brown said police officers had found indecent images of children on Langford’s electronic devices and on-line conversations with other people with a sexual interest in children in which he described having had a "lucky perv moment" when he had looked up a pupil’s skirt when she was bending down in class and commenting: “It’s going to be a fun year”.

He also said he "a lot of kinks" that wouldn't be approved of and how shocked his pupils would be if they knew he liked looking at indecent images of children younger than them.

Langford of Ingleton Camforth, North Yorkshire, admitted eight offences of indecency with a child, two offences of indecent assault and one offence of attempting to pervert the course of justice.

He also admitted three offences of making indecent images of children, possessing 109 extreme pornographic images, possessing 199 prohibited images of children and distributing indecent images of children.

The charges of making indecent images of children relate to 654 indecent images of children and 30 movies in the most serious level A category, 514 still images in category B and 1,528 still images and 11 movies in the least serious level C category which had been downloaded over a period of six years.

Judge Martyn Levett described Langford as a dangerous offender with "an entrenched sexual interest in children" and jailed him for nine years and two months with an extended licence period of four years and eight months.

He was also ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register for life and was made the subject of an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.

In a statement read to the court the victim described the offences as “abhorrent “ and said Langford “disgusted her to the core”.

She described him as “devious and manipulative” and said she was haunted by the way he had sexually abused her.

Juliet Donovan for Langford said he had been a maths and science teacher for 25 years and was genuinely remorseful.

She said that since his arrest he’d lost his wife, family, friends, and home and had sought help from a child protection charity.

Description

Anthony Insall, aged 49 from Yarm, has pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children, both Category A images and Category C images, at Teesside Magistrates’ Court today, Friday 15th September 2023 and will be sentenced on 11th October 2023.

Investigating Officer, Detective Constable Barnes from the Paedophile Online Investigation Team said: “Anthony Insall searched for indecent images and content on the internet. He was found to have accessed the child abuse material over, at least, a 15-month period.

“The behaviour committed by Insall, and those who commit crime of a similar nature, is entirely abhorrent and causes significant harm to vulnerable children.

“Whilst this is an online offence, there are real victims out there living with the scars of abuse in this cycle of suffering. People who commit crimes of this nature are not invisible and we will ensure we do everything possible to bring them to justice.”

Description

Predator Philip Lane, who has previous similar offences in the past, latched onto the girl’s Facebook profile, but which was run by an online hunter group London Overwatch.

The 56-year-old spent five days chatting with the ‘girl’ at the end of July after sending her a friend request. He began asking her questions and even told her he was “old enough to be her grandfather” and could “get done” for talking to her, prosecutor Emily Hassell told Leeds Crown Court this week.

Predator Philip Lane, who has previous similar offences in the past, latched onto the girl’s Facebook profile, but which was run by an online hunter group London Overwatch.

The 56-year-old spent five days chatting with the ‘girl’ at the end of July after sending her a friend request. He began asking her questions and even told her he was “old enough to be her grandfather” and could “get done” for talking to her, prosecutor Emily Hassell told Leeds Crown Court this week.

He told her he was sleeping naked and named his penis ‘Sid’, and told her what he wanted to do to her with him. He sent her a photo of his genitals and said he would use a condom so she would not get pregnant.

Land, of Huntwick Drive, Featherstone, told her that in some countries children of her age get married and it should be her choice if she wanted to engage in sexual relations.

He was confronted by paedophile hunters who livestreamed the meeting live over the internet. He was arrested but tried to hide his Samsung mobile phone. He later admitted a charge of attempting to incite a girl under 13 into sexual activity.

Land has seven convictions for 38 offences, including sexual offences with children over the internet. He was already on the sex offender register for life.

Mitigating, Anastasis Tasou conceded he had little to say on Land’s behalf, other than that he “had the good sense to plead guilty as early as he could”.

He added: “He struggles to explain his behaviour. He is a stereotype for this kind of offending and lives a very solitary life. He would like to apologise to the court for his actions.”

Judge Andrew Stubbs KC jailed Land for four years and told him: “You are a cliché for this offending and you’ve done it before. There are many people who sit behind their keyboards and fantasise about what they want to do. You were involved in inciting her in to penetrative activity. You have done it before so it makes your offending much more serious.”

Description

An ex-Royal Marine commando who started having sexually-charged online conversations with a fake 13-year-old girl later claimed that their chats were no worse than what was taught in schools.

Retired lorry driver Frank Turner also pretended that he was gathering evidence before taking it to the police station and that he only asked the girl for explicit pictures so that he could be sure that she was definitely over the age of 18.

But it was clear "grooming" behaviour and he had previously been jailed for distributing sick images of children, Hull Crown Court heard.

Turner, 73, of Tennyson Street, Goole, admitted attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and breaching a sexual harm prevention order between November 29 and January 16.

Benjamin Donnell, prosecuting, said that undercover police set up an online profile of a non-existent 13-year-old girl and Turner began exchanging messages with her.

The fake girl told him that she was only 13 but he continued the messages and they became highly sexualised. He asked a series of intimate questions about sexual matters, made explicit suggestions and asked if she wanted sexual pictures of him.

He told her that he would only do so if she promised him that she would not save them on her phone. He asked for intimate pictures of her but he was not sent any. "It was clear grooming behaviour," said Mr Donnell.

In a later online conversation, Turner asked the decoy girl: "Have you been practising what I taught you?" He was arrested and material linking him to the conversations, including naked pictures of him, was found on his devices.

Turner later told police that he had no sexual interest in children. He claimed that he asked for photographs of the girl so that he could check that she was over 18 and, that if she was not, he would terminate the conversation.

He claimed that the conversations were no more than what would be taught in schools. "He said that he was doing this to gather evidence to take to the police station," said Mr Donnell. Turner suggested that he was involved in "fantasy".

He had convictions from 2017 for making and distributing hundreds of indecent images of children, including 132 in the most serious category, and possessing extreme pornography of bestiality. He had been jailed for 20 months and a sexual harm prevention order had been made.

During that hearing, the court was told that Turner, a former Royal Marine commando, claimed that he was lonely and was looking for a girlfriend. He shared images of children as young as two.

There was a risk of very serious sexual harm in the new offences, said Mr Donnell.

David Godfrey, mitigating, said that it was "quite troubling recent behaviour" but the conversations took place over a relatively short period of time. Turner had worked as a lorry driver for many years.

"He is somebody who has been quite isolated and that's come through in his online activities," said Mr Godfrey.

"He was living alone with his dog. He found some solace in the internet. There was not a victim but this was luck not judgement on his behalf."

Judge Kate Rayfield said that Turner was told at a very early stage by the fake girl that she was aged 13 but he was "undeterred" and told her not to mention her age in messages.

"You quickly engaged her in sexual conversation, asking her about her own sexual experiences and asking her questions about what she had and hadn't done," said Judge Rayfield.

A sexual harm prevention order had been made in 2017. "This is a deliberate breach," said Judge Rayfield. "There was a significant disparity in your respective ages. There was no harm, in fact, and this was attempted conduct. It was a deliberate breach of your order and there was certainly some risk."

Turner was jailed for four years and one month and he was given an indefinite sexual harm prevention order. He will have to register as a sex offender indefinitely.