Latest Offenders

Description

A PERVERSE man who covertly filmed a child as she bathed has been jailed for 18 months.

David Quick, from Walton, hid his mobile phone with its camera pointing towards the victim.

However, the 53-year-old was caught after she spotted the Samsung’s camera lens poking out the top of a washbag, Chelmsford Crown Court heard.

Quick was confronted by the victim after she accessed his phone and found a naked picture of herself on it in January 2019.

Richard Potts, prosecuting, said Quick was arrested later that day and police officers examined his phone in the investigation which followed.

The prosecutor said they found 55 category B indecent images of children on it and at least 40 category C indecent images, of which at least 14 images and one video were of the victim.

The distressing content had been feeding into a series of apps on his phone and removed from his camera roll in a bid to hide them.

The victim’s mother said Quick’s crimes were “precise, calculated and devious”, adding: “He took something from her that was not his to take and he did so in an underhanded way.”

Quick, of Saville Street, Walton, admitted two offences of voyeurism, taking indecent images of a child and possessing both category B and C indecent images of a child.

He was jailed for 18 months on Tuesday afternoon.

Description

A 'lying' child rapist will spend 28 years in prison for his horrific crimes.

Predator Richard Williams was put behind bars at Teesside Crown Court on Tuesday. The Hartlepool man also received an indefinite restraining order and a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) and will be subject to stringent conditions and monitoring upon his release.

In 2018, a third party reported that Williams had sexually assaulted and raped the victim. Enquiries began and the victim received specialist support while officers from CAVA (Child Abuse and Vulnerable Adults Investigation Unit) worked with other agencies to piece together what had happened over the years.

Williams, of Topcliffe Street, Hartlepool, was charged earlier this year and in May a jury at Teesside Crown Court found him guilty of raping a girl under 16, four counts of rape of a female over 16, indecent assault on a girl under 16 and indecent assault on a woman over 16.

Safeguarding Detective Chief Inspector Matt Murphy King added: “Williams lied and lied again, denying his actions even when there was the strongest of evidence against him. He did all he could to throw our enquiries off course but my officers shared a determination to achieve charges and bring him before the courts to face the consequences of his abhorrent actions.

“Williams’ constant lying also meant the victim had to endure the stress of a trial, but she took it all in her stride and showed great courage and strength throughout. I’d reassure our communities that we will always investigate thoroughly any allegations of abuse, no matter how long ago it took place.”

Description

A football coach who was found guilty of raping a 15-year-old in 2006 has been jailed for seven years.

Paul Edwards, 62, of Marling Crescent, Farmhill, Stroud, appeared at Gloucester Crown Court for sentencing on Friday 4 August.

Passing sentence, the judge, Recorder Neil Millard told Edwards: "That girl's life has been changed forever because you raped her."

Edwards was placed on the sex-offender register for life.

He has also been barred from working with children.

Prosecutor Giles Nelson said that during the summer of 2006 the 15-year-old girl had an argument with her father and sought refuge at the home of some people she knew in Minchinhampton, near Stroud.

"She was distressed when she arrived and was comforted by the occupants. Arrangements were made for her to stay overnight."

He said that Edwards was in the house and invited the girl to share the bed he was sleeping in. "She woke up a few hours later, to find that Edwards having sex with her."

The teenager told her sister the following day that she had been raped.

Mr Nelson said: "She was a child who couldn't have consented to sex. She was also sleeping when Edwards raped her."

'Lived a lie'

The victim reported the offence in 2020 with Edwards first being tried in January last year. However, the jury was discharged after failing to agree on a verdict.

Edwards was convicted after a retrial at Cirencester Court in June this year.

In an impact statement, the victim said the night was "one of absolute terror".

"Whatever happens to Edwards now, it will never be enough for what he did to me that night. He has lived a lie for the past 17 years," she said.

"I have been unable to go through with counselling as some sessions have been too much for me."

She said that, now Edwards has been sentenced, she hopes to resume counselling.

'You are a rapist'

The Judge Millard told Edwards: "You had been a football coach in the local community for much of your life.

"Your victim was vulnerable. She was distressed. You took advantage of her. You were drunk.

"Her life changed that day because of you. We now know you are a rapist, a child rapist."

Defending Edwards, Virginia Cornwall told the court that "at the heart of all this" was Edwards' drinking on that day.

"His life was football coaching in the community... [and] he has to face the consequences of his actions."

She added that she hoped the jury's verdict will give the victim some closure.

Description

A PAEDOPHILE “bullied” young girls between the ages of nine and 14 into performing sex acts on themselves online which he filmed.

Joel Gillard, 30, from Ebbw Vale used social media platforms like Instagram to abuse six schoolgirls across the UK including two from York.

The defendant “groomed” his victims when he was drinking heavily and taking cocaine while he was living in a van on the side of a mountain.

Gillard posed as a 15-year-old boy called Josh and would dare the girls to perform more and more explicit acts as if it were a game.

Some of them were blackmailed if they didn't do as they were told.

A judge told the “intelligent” cyber security consultant he’d had “no limits” as she jailed him for nearly 10 years.

She said he had been sexually aroused by the power he’d wielded over the vulnerable underage schoolgirls.

When the police went to talk to the nine-year-old victim she was playing with toys and colouring in pictures.

Detectives had to bring their conversation with her to an abrupt halt after they began to speak about Gillard because she started “crying hysterically”.

Gareth James, prosecuting, told Cardiff Crown Court the parents of two girls in North Yorkshire made complaints to the police before Gillard was traced to Gwent.

He said: “Officers discovered screen recordings that showed that the defendant used social media accounts to engage with young girls.

“He was pretending to be a teenage boy and was having sexualised conversations with young girls.

“Those conversations involved the defendant coercing them to perform sexual acts upon themselves that included penetrative sexual activity.”

Mr James added: “Grooming behaviour was used against the victims.

“These offences involved a significant degree of planning and sexual images are recorded and retained and in each case there is a significant disparity in age.”

Gillard admitted six counts of causing or inciting an underage girl to engage in sexual activity and one each of causing a child to watch a sexual act and sexual communication with a child.

He also pleaded guilty to three charges of making an indecent image of a child.

Gillard had 313 category A images, the most serious kind, 88 category B images and 101 category C images.

The defendant also accepted possession of eight extreme pornographic images of bestiality.

He had no previous convictions.

Jeffrey Jones representing Gillard said: “The defendant feels disgusted with himself.

“He empathises with the victims and their families.”

Gillard is on the autism spectrum and “has problems making friends”.

Mr Jones added: “He has supportive parents who are here in court today.

“They scratch their heads. They are despondent.”

Judge Lucy Crowther told Gillard: “You had no limits.

“You recognised what you were doing was entirely wrong and you persisted.”

The defendant was handed an extended prison sentence of nine years and eight months.

Gillard will have to serve at least two-thirds of a custodial term of six years and eight months before being eligible for parole.

Once released he will be subject to a licence period of three years.

The defendant must register as a sex offender indefinitely and was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for 25 years.

Description

A CONVICTED paedophile has been sent to prison for refereeing a children’s football game and teaching a young boy a sexual gesture.

Registered sex offender Brian Tapper, 56, from Newport was barred from having unsupervised contact with children under the age of 16 after being jailed in 2020.

He was locked up three years ago for trying to contact 13-year-old girls online after being caught by paedophile hunters and undercover police officers.

Tapper was made the subject of a 10-year sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) following that conviction which prevented him from having unsupervised contact with underage children.

The defendant, formerly of Pontypool, breached that condition on July 20 when he refereed a children’s football match played in the street where he lived in Newport.

Prosecutor Susan Ferrier said Tapper also taught one of the players a sexual gesture.

The defendant put his finger through a circle he’s made with his other hand, she told Cardiff Crown Court.

Tapper’s neighbours and the children’s parents were “totally unaware” that Tapper was a sex offender.

His offending only came to light when he told his probation officer he’d been a ref in the street football game.

Tapper pleaded guilty to being in breach of a SHPO.

Miss Ferrier said that, as well as being jailed for 14 months three years ago, the defendant also had multiple previous convictions for exposure which dated back to 1989.

He was also handed a suspended prison sentence in January this year for being in breach of a SHPO after he admitted using Snapchat without retaining the messaging app’s history.

Ben Waters representing Tapper said his client’s offending last month had shown “a lack of intelligence”.

He asked the court to take into account the defendant’s early guilty plea.

Judge Lucy Crowther told Tapper: “This was a very serious and persistent breach.

“It involved contact with children and you actually engaging with them on a personal level and you showed a sexual gesture.”

She jailed Tapper for 18 months for the SHPO breach and six months on top for being in breach of the suspended prison sentence she imposed earlier this year.

The defendant was told he would serve half of his two-year term in custody before being released on licence.

She imposed on him a new SHPO to last for another 10 years.

Description

A convicted paedophile has admitted 21 further offences of sexually abusing young boys while overseas.

Christopher Behn, 68, from Colchester, is already serving a nine-year prison term for abusing 11 children in Myanmar in 2016.

The new charges related to the abuse of boys, aged six to 11, in Vietnam.

Behn, who police described as a "committed and prolific transnational child sex offender", is due to be sentenced next month.

The retired engineer appeared in Chelmsford Crown Court by video link from HMP Albany on the Isle of Wight.

Investigators from the National Crime Agency (NCA), Europol and Dutch authorities identified Behn as a member of a Europe-wide network who travelled together to abuse children across the globe.

He was arrested at Gatwick Airport in February 2020, after investigators identified him as appearing in images with another member of the network - a Dutch national who was convicted in the Netherlands.

Behn was detained by officers before he could board a flight to Vietnam.

Photographs taken by Behn, showing him abusing children, were recovered from encrypted electronic devices.

His travel history showed he had visited Vietnam 18 times since 2006, along with trips to Thailand, Philippines, Laos, Cambodia, India, and Myanmar, the NCA said.

He and the Dutch national had also written diaries that described in graphic detail the abuse committed by the pair on many of these trips.

In June this year, Behn was further charged with 23 counts of sexually assaulting a child and causing a child to engage in sexual activity between 2008 and 2018.

He denied two of the charges, but will not face trial on those counts.

Phil Eccles, NCA operations manager, said Behn was "a committed and prolific transnational child sex offender, who dedicated years of his life to this criminal network".

"Behn and his like-minded friends conducted their offending in remote parts of the world and conspired together via encrypted chats in the hope of hiding their horrific offending from law enforcement," he said.

The agency said it had identified a further five men based in the UK believed to have links to the network and investigations were ongoing in a number of countries across Europe.

Description

A ‘DANGEROUS’ sex offender from Ingleton has been jailed for four years after he was trapped by a paedophile hunter group for the second time.

Robert Twaites was given a community order in 2018 that included a condition that he took part in a specialist sex offender programme.

Bradford Crown Court heard yesterday (Monday) that he had been caught by a paedophile hunter group sending sexually explicit messages to decoys posing as girls aged 13 and 14 and trying to meet up with them.

Despite completing the Horizon Programme, he was back online in January this year trying to meet up for sexual activity with what he believed was a girl aged 13, the court heard.

Prosecutor Philip Standfast told the court that Twaites engaged in conversations with the decoy saying he liked to go on dates and offering to buy her presents.

He suggested they could ‘meet in the woods’ but after he failed to turn up, members of the paedophile hunter group confronted him at his home and contacted the police.

When officers examined his phone, they found prohibited images of children.

Twaites, 33, of New Village, Ingleton, admitted charges relating to his attempts to cause or incite a child to engage sexual activity and attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.

Julian White, for Twaites, described his behaviour as self-destructive and said it was mind-boggling that he would continue to behave in the way he had.

“He went through the necessary rehabilitative process, but notwithstanding that, he continued to offend in an identical manner,” Mr White said.

He described Twaites as an isolated and lonely individual.

Judge Sophie McKone said that despite his denials, he had a sexual interest in children and posed a high risk of serious harm to them.

Although no real child was involved, if there had been he would have gone through with the intended abuse.

Judge McKone jailed Twaites for four years and added an extra two years’ licence because he was a dangerous offender.

He will only be released by the Parole Board after serving two-thirds of his jail term if they decide it is safe to do so.

Twaites will also have to register as a sex offender with the police for the rest of his life and he must comply with an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Description

A predatory and highly manipulative Cambridge paedophile who filmed himself raping a young girl and sexually assaulting another has been jailed for 32 years

Kevin Brock, of Cam Causeway, lured dozens more girls into sending him sexual images and videos of themselves by promising them more followers on social media.

He was found to have trawled through hundreds of under-age girls profiles on the video sharing platform Tik Tok.

A court heard Brock, 28, abused two girls under the age of 13 in Cambridgeshire in 2021, raping the younger of them on three separate occasions.

Another slightly older girl was groomed over years and sexually assaulted three times. Some of this abuse was also filmed.

His crime emerged in December 2021 when messages were found on one of the girls devices by a family member, who called police.

When Brock was arrested, he told police in an interview that he had never touched the girls sexually. He admitted sending the messages to the older girl, but claimed they were not meant in a sexual nature.

When his home was searched, two phones were seized and analysis showed he had 1,401 indecent images and videos of children, including the rape and sexual abuse of the two young girls.

There were 809 category C images or videos, 350 deemed to be in category B and 242 at category A the most severe.

Brock answered no comment in a further interview with police following the discovery of this material.

Investigations by another police force in July last year revealed Brock had targeted another girl under 13 on Tik Tok and asked for sexual images of her in exchange for followers on the video sharing platform.

Brock urged the girl, who lived in Nottinghamshire, to add him on Snapchat before asking for sexual photos of her.

The request for photos progressed to videos of the girl engaging in sexual activity - and Brock threatened to ban her from Snapchat if she did not comply with his demands.

After being arrested, Brock claimed his account must have been hacked and told officers he did not speak to under-age girls but further videos discovered by police on his phone revealed conversations with at least a dozen other under-age girls, who he had also encouraged to engage in sexual activity, and to supply him with photos and videos.

Brock denied all charges against him but later admitted a total of 27 offences, including:

• Three counts of raping a girl under 13
• Engaging in sexual communication with a child
• Two counts of sexually assaulting a girl under 13
• Sexually assaulting a girl under 13 by penetration
• 13 counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity
• Three counts of possessing indecent images of children
• Four counts of making indecent images of children

He was sentenced at Peterborough Crown Court today (August 7), where he was handed a total of 32 years in prison.

Sentencing Brock, Judge Rupert Lowe said the offences revealed him to be a persistent, predatory and highly manipulative paedophile with a deep rooted sexual interest in young girls.

He said the offending was sexual abuse in the most appalling way for both girls, adding that Brock recorded and retained the footage, no doubt intending to view it later for sexual gratification.

Det Con Charlie Mitton, from Cambridgeshire polices Child Abuse Investigation and Safeguarding Unit (CAISU), said: Our thoughts are with the two young girls Brock targeted in the most horrific of ways, and his other victims who were targeted online.

We are pleased he has now been brought to justice and we hope the sentence imposed gives his victims and their families some closure from this traumatic period in their lives.

Det Con Mitton said investigations showed Brock would trawl through hundreds of under-age girls profiles on Tik Tok, watch them on live streams and send them direct messages promising them hundreds of likes, causing their accounts to skyrocket in popularity.

She added: However, in exchange for these likes, which there was never any evidence he could provide, Brock would ask for sexual images or videos of them. This behaviour is highly manipulative, as vulnerable children are often attached to their social media influence.

Phones and social media mean children can be vulnerable to those who prey on their innocence and exploit their trust. We would urge parents to speak to their children about online safety and consider exactly who they are communicating with online.

We would also encourage anyone who believes they may have been subject to similar behaviour by Brock to get in touch. Protecting young people from harm is one of our top priorities and we have specially trained officers who are there to support victims and bring offenders to justice.

Description

A paedophile who sexually abused two schoolgirls, robbing them of their childhood, has been jailed for 25 years.

Brian Clark, now 83, was handed the sentence after his brave victims came forward to report his non-recent offending.

Frightened and confused, both victims stayed quiet and attempted to move forward with their lives.

But the impact of Clark’s abuse continued to haunt them throughout their adult life and in 2019, specialist officers from Northumbria Police’s Safeguarding Department were contacted.

Officers launched an investigation and arrested Clark, of Newbiggin-by-the-Sea.

He was later charged with 13 offences, including nine counts of rape, gross indecency, and indecent assault.

Clark denied all offences and the case was sent to trial.

Appearing at Newcastle Crown Court last month he was found guilty of all charges. On July 17, at the same court, a judge heard heartbreaking statements from both victims.

The judge sentenced Clark to 25 years behind bars. He must also sign the Sex Offenders’ Register for life.

Detective Sergeant Jaclyn Younger, who led the investigation, said: “Brian Clark groomed his victims and thought he would die a free man, never believing they would speak out about the abuse.

Description

Michael Lai aged 61 collected vile pornography which showed children as young as nine being subjected to horrific abuse. 

He appeared at the Old Bailey Friday 4th August and pleaded guilty to three charges of possessing indecent images of children. 

When National Crime Agency officers raided Michael’s home on Castlemaine Avenue, Croydon, in November 2019 he confessed that he’d been downloading indecent images. 

He also told officers that a computer tower and three hard drives in his home belonged to his brother William, prosecutor Alice Holloway said.

An inspection of the devices revealed that they contained indecent images of children dating back to January 2015. 

A total of 35,101 images were attributed to Michael.

He added: “You must understand that those are images of real children being abused, children who will have to live knowing that those images are out there for the rest of their lives.” 

Judge Medland explained that the brothers had not been charged until March 2023 and that he was obliged to take that three-year delay into consideration when sentencing them. 

He said: “In coming to that decision I want nobody to think that this court doesn’t take this offence very seriously. It is disgusting and offensive and it must stop.

Michael will be on the sex offenders register for ten years and will be subject to a sexual harm prevention order.  He was fined £2,500.

Description

William Lai aged 67 collected vile pornography which showed children as young as nine being subjected to horrific abuse. 

He appeared at the Old Bailey and  pleaded guilty to three charges of possessing indecent images of children. 

When National Crime Agency officers raided his brother Michael’s home on Castlemaine Avenue, Croydon, in November 2019 Michael confessed that he’d been downloading indecent images.

Michael told officers that a computer tower and three hard drives in his home belonged to his brother William, prosecutor Alice Holloway said. 

An inspection of the devices revealed that they contained indecent images of children dating back to January 2015. 

11,863 images were attributed to William. 

He added: “You must understand that those are images of real children being abused, children who will have to live knowing that those images are out there for the rest of their lives.” 

Judge Medland explained that the brothers had not been charged until March 2023 and that he was obliged to take that three-year delay into consideration when sentencing them. 

He said: “In coming to that decision I want nobody to think that this court doesn’t take this offence very seriously. It is disgusting and offensive and it must stop.

Judge Medland added that he could not understand why police took over three years to charge the Lai brothers after the raid. 

William, of Pheasant Field Drive in Derby, was given a 20-month prison sentence suspended for two years, while Michael was given a two-year prison sentence also suspended for two years. 

The brothers will both be on the sex offenders register for ten years and will be subject to a sexual harm prevention order. 

William was given a £1,500 fine.

Description

A Warwick man has admitted multiple online sex offences including attempting to engage a child in sexual communication.

Between May and June this year, Mark Stewart, of Kempton Drive, used an online messaging platform to send suggestive messages believing he was talking to the profile of a girl under the age of 13.

His actions alerted the Online Investigations Team at the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit (SWROCU) who made a referral to Warwickshire Police and on 29 June, Stewart was arrested at his home.

A search was carried out and several items were seized by officers including his mobile phone with subsequent forensic analysis revealing Stewart had been involved in multiple conversations of a sexual nature.

The 32-year-old was also found to have shared images of himself, requested images from the profile of the girl, and asked them to perform a sexual act.

He initially provided a no comment interview, but appearing at Warwick Crown Court on Thursday (3 August), pleaded guilty to:

• Two counts of making an indecent photograph/pseudo-photograph of a child
• One count of attempting to engage in sexual communications with a child
• One count of attempting to cause/incite a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity

He will be sentenced at the same court on 18 September.

Description

A paedophile tried to hide a mobile phone containing indecent images of children in the sunroof of his car.

When officers arrived at Roy Seymour-Morris' house on March 27, he was at the gym, but as he pulled up officers noticed him put his hand towards the sunroof - where he put a phone.

The visit followed Seymour-Morris’ IP address being found to be used to upload illicit images of children.

The phone was seized and found to contain three Category A videos, the most severe, and three Category C indecent images.

Seymour-Morris, 62, was also in breach of one of the conditions of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) handed down after he was convicted of indecent image offences at Guildford Crown Court in April 2018. 

He had failed to let officers know of a new phone so they could instal monitoring software.

On August 3, at Peterborough Crown Court, Seymour-Morris, of Sandbank, Wisbech St Mary, was jailed for one year and eight months after pleading guilty to distributing an indecent photograph of a child, breaching an SHPO and two counts of making indecent photographs of a child.

DC Claire Cummings said: “Seymour-Morris knew what he was doing was illegal so I am glad he has faced justice.” 

Description

A victim of a paedophile bus driver who abused three children has spoken of her relief after he was finally convicted two decades on.

Naomi Gibson bravely spoke out to police when she was assaulted by predator Craig Wallace in a van during a family trip to the football when she was just 11.

But there was not enough evidence to convict the fiend at the time and he went on to rape two other youngsters.

Now 31, mum-of two Naomi says she is haunted by the fact her abuser was not stopped from harming others and is waiving her right to anonymity in a bid to help other victims find the courage to come forward.

She told the Record: “I was the first. I was the test subject for him and the fact this continued so long and he was free for a 20 year period is heartbreaking.

“I just feel so sorry for the other girls. If only I was listened to I might have been able to save them from this.

“But I hope other victims of abuse will be encouraged to know that you are strong enough and you can get justice, even after so long.”

Jurors convicted Wallace, now 41, of abusing three children over a period of 15 years at the High Court in Glasgow on Friday.

He had denied the three charges during trial but was convicted of lewd and libidinous conduct towards Naomi in her dad's van in Hamilton, Lanarkshire.

Wallace was further found guilty of raping a second girl at a house in the town.

He was finally convicted of the sexual assault, attempted rape and rape of a final child in Douglas, Lanarkshire.

Prosecutors stated the charges - all with unanimous verdicts - spanned between 2003 and 2018.

Wallace was a close friend of Naomi’s dad and known to her before the attack as ‘uncle Craig’.

He would accompany the family on trips to watch youth football matches at Hamilton Palace grounds and, in 2003, he took his chance when alone in Naomi’s dad’s van to subject her to 45 minutes of terror.

After asking her inappropriate questions, Wallace asked to see a scar on her chest before sexually assaulting her.

Brazen Wallace continued to stroke her thigh on the way home with Naomi’s dad sitting just inches away in the van.

Naomi, of Strathaven, South Lanarkshire, said: “People of his nature tend to have a fear factor about what they’re doing. He doesn’t have that.

“If you walked past him in the street you would probably smile at him because he has a very trusting face but if you take that extra five minutes to actually look into his eyes you can see he’s sheer evil.

“He told me it was just our secret but as soon as I went home I told my mum everything that happened.

“My mum and Dad spoke and asked me what I wanted to do and we went to the police. I spoke to them a few days later.

“The police were amazing. I still remember the police officer who went above and beyond for me and was absolutely amazing, but there wasn’t enough evidence. They needed more.

“He was a bus driver, which is so scary because you get the kids on the buses coming home from school and young women coming back from nights out.”

Naomi says her family was targeted and intimidated by supporters of Wallace in the year that followed and their property vandalised.

They were even moved to a safe house by police.

Wallace, of East Kilbride, Lanarkshire, had been on bail for the duration of his trial.

Adjourning sentencing until next month, judge Lord Armstrong told him: “You will be detained in custody meantime.”

Wallace was put on the sex offenders list.

Naomi said: “It was a long time coming. I don’t even think it has sunk in properly yet that he is finally behind bars.

“It is very freeing to know it’s over after all this time. I feel lucky really that what happened to me didn’t develop any further but heartbroken that he has gone on to progress his offending with the other girls.

“If he gets out I believe he is going to do this again and again."

Description

A PAEDOPHILE cried in the dock as the court heard how he encouraged a ‘teen’ to perform a sex act on herself and asked for pictures of her boobs.

Daniel Razak believed he was talking with a 13-year-old girl when he ‘quickly’ turned the conversation sexual.

But it was actually an undercover police officer from the child sex abuse unit whose role is to identify offenders with sexual interests in children.

Razak, of Mendip Avenue, Orford, was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court on Wednesday after pleading guilty to attempting to engage in sexual communications with a child, attempting to cause a child to engage in sexual activity, attempting to cause a child to watch sexual activity and possession of cannabis.

Prosecuting, Alaric Walmsley said that last year, Cheshire Police received information that between September 5 and September 8, the defendant had engaged in sexual conversation with who he believed with a 13-year-old girl on Kik Messenger.

Mr Walmsley told the court how the defendant quickly sexualised the conversation with ‘Poppy’ – who was actually an undercover police officer that had selected a ‘teen chat mode’.

The 33-year-old sent Poppy, who he told he was 19, pornographic images and encouraged her to perform a sex act on herself.

He also added her on Snapchat.

After four days, the pair stopped communicating and Razak was arrested at a later date.

His Samsung phone was seized, and although no pictures of videos of child sex abuse were found, Razak’s search history showed terms such as ‘jail bait girl’ and ‘jail bait girl Twitter’.

The pornographic images he had sent to Poppy were also found on his phone, and cannabis was found on his living room table.

During a police interview, Razak, who is a dad, told officers he did not ‘fully understand’ why he had behaved in this way and that he did not believe he was attracted to children.

Mr Walmsley said that Razak has no previous convictions.

Defending, Simon Christie said how his client ‘had the sense’ to stop communicating with Poppy.

He said: “Those conversations started on September 5 and stopped on September 8, long before he could have known of any police interest.”

The court heard how Razak is ‘deeply remorseful’ for his behaviour and feels shame.

Mr Christie also said how is client is a man of previous good character who works full time and supports his family.

Concluding, judge Robert Trevor-Jones said: “You initiated the contact with her and quickly sexualised the conversation.

“These are serious matters.

“I do accept you are exhibiting a significant degree of remorse.”

Razak was handed a 20-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months.

He must also complete up to 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days and 160 hours of unpaid work.

The court also ordered Razak to sign the sex offender register for 10 years and he is also subjected to a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years.