Search the database
clearly and quickly

Record details

A man who threatened to share intimate images of young women he met through social media has been jailed for a year.

Scott Smith, 34, messaged three women on Snapchat and struck up conversations before he convinced them to send naked photos to him.

But Smith demanded his victims, who were aged between 15 and 20, send more photos or he would share pictures he already had online.

One victim was left so distressed by his conduct she dropped out of her academic studies.

His offending came to light after police raided his home in Hamilton, Lanarkshire, as part of a separate investigation that discovered a sickening stash of 37 images and 26 videos of children being abused.

Evidence uncovered during the raid showed he had been communicating with the women and threatening them.

Smith appeared at Hamilton Sheriff Court and admitted possessing indecent images of children and a breach of the peace between June 2019 and January 2022.

He was blasted by Sheriff John Hamilton KC for his 'manipulative' and 'exploitative' behaviour. The sheriff jailed the first offender and placed him on the sex offenders' register for 10 years and also banned him from contacting his victims for 10 years.

Depute fiscal Scott O'Connor told the court how Smith was caught sending messages to the three women.

He said: "It became apparent he had been communicating with females on Snapchat and the investigation uncovered he had been communicating and requesting images of a sexual nature.

"The complainers thereafter sent images of themselves to the accused, he received the said images and they then received a message stating that he had their nude pictures and had their contacts and social media pages.

"If they failed to send further images of themselves of a sexual nature, he would post them to their contacts and onto their social media profiles.

"On receipt of that message the complainers thereafter contacted the police and they were blocked by the accused and there was no further contact.

"During the investigation the three complainers were identified and it was discovered that one was aged 15 at the time."

Ian Scott, defending, said: "He had a good track record up until this and his concern is that the custodial threshold has been reached but I have done my best to assure him that alternatives do exist and the court has to consider them."

Sheriff Hamilton said: "You were engaging with three separate females on social media and persuaded them, I don't know how, to send images of themselves of a sexual and compromising nature.

"You then effectively blackmailed them by threatening to release them to friends, family and the public at large. Your position is that you pled guilty because your lawyer told you to do so and you have accepted no responsibility whatsoever.

"I accept everything in your life seemed to be going well before but this exploitative and manipulative behaviour cannot be left unmarked."

Record details

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.

Record details

A sex offender has been jailed after grooming and attempting to meet a person he believed was a 14-year-old girl.

Nigel Feckey travelled from his home in Nottinghamshire to Gwent, Wales, after making arrangements to meet the teenager.

He was arrested at Caerphilly railway station by officers from Gwent Police after they were tipped off by members of an online activist group.

Nottinghamshire Police launched an investigation after information was passed to detectives.

It was discovered during a detailed investigation that Feckey had also sent explicit messages to the person he believed was aged 14, as well as attempting to groom another individual he believed was 13.

Sixty-three-year-old Feckey, of Fredrick Street, Sutton-in-Ashfield, pleaded guilty to attempting to meet a child after grooming and two counts of attempting to incite a child into sexual activity.

At Nottingham Crown Court on Friday (12 January) he was jailed for a total of four years and made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order. He must also sign on the Sex Offenders' Register for life.

Record details

A South London man who sexually abused a child has been jailed after the victim bravely came forward many years later. Darren Barrett, 40, of Coventry Road, Croydon, was charged with two counts of indecent assault on July 22, 2022 after a Metropolitan Police investigation which began when his victim - who cannot be named for legal reasons - broke their silence in August 2021.

A Met Police spokesperson said: "Detectives began an investigation in August 2021 after a [person] contacted the Met to report that [they] had been sexually assaulted when [they were] a child."

Barrett was convicted on both counts at Croydon Crown Court and was jailed for 18 months on one count and nine months on another, to run concurrently. Detective Constable Chamberlain, who carried out the investigation, said: "It must have been incredibly difficult for the victim to come forward and speak about what [they] went through after so many years. I hope [they] will finally have some closure.

"This investigation and conviction demonstrates that the Met will take all allegations of sexual abuse seriously and we will follow the evidence to bring offenders to justice, no matter how long ago the offences occurred." Barrett was also put on the Sex Offender's Register for 10 years.

Record details

A RAPIST who sexually assaulted a woman in a vulnerable state on Christmas Day before fleeing a fatal crash on the A127 has been jailed.

Thomas Black, 30 of Middle Street, Nazeing appeared at Chelmsford Crown Court on Friday where he was jailed for eight years after admitting multiple sexual offences including rape.

An investigation was launched on December 25, 2019, after police were called to an address in Westcliff in the early hours following concerns for a woman. Enquiries revealed the woman had been sexually assaulted while in a vulnerable state.

Later that same day, after he had "taken a cocktail of drink and drugs", according to an inquest, Black hit a pedestrian as they crossed the A127 in a fatal crash near the Dick Turpin pub.

Sentencing him in 2021, the magistrates' bench said the victim, Christian Taylor, 36, from Wickford, "may have survived had the defendant stopped".

The scene - the victim's body was not found until two days after the Christmas Day crash (Image: File photo)

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has said there was not enough evidence to support him being charged with causing death by dangerous driving, and Black was charged with and admitted failing to stop and failing to report a crash. He was given four months in jail suspended for a year and 100 hours of unpaid work.

Black was arrested on suspicion of rape on Boxing Day of 2019 at his home address. In interview, Black denied his actions and he was released on bail while enquiries continued.

This included his phone being downloaded, which revealed several private sexual images of the victim, which had been taken without her consent and shared into a group chat.

Black was subsequently charged with rape of a woman over the age of 16 and sexual assault.

Despite initially pleading not guilty, Black changed his plea to guilty on the first day of the trial on November 20.

Speaking after the sentence, the victim described the devastating impact that Black’s crimes have had on her: “The entire investigation was tough and the embarrassment, degradation, anxiety and stress that this has caused me cannot be measured. His actions impacted my life in the worst way for four years and will remain with me forever.

“Detective Constable Jackie Spooner and Mandy Moxon from the investigation team could not have been any more supportive.

“DC Spooner left nothing unturned and I felt like she was determined to get justice for me. The team made me feel calm and at ease and their mannerisms were perfect in helping me throughout the difficult process.

“About three years into the investigation, I wanted to stop the whole thing. DC Spooner encouraged me to push on. She never gave up on me, I felt so protected.

“The prolonged amount of time it has taken to get justice has taken its toll on me.

“Moving forward, I have to deal with the continued anxiety, memories of this ordeal and also with my mistrust in men which I did not suffer from before this awful experience.

“Despite my horrendous ordeal, I’m so grateful for the support I received and I hope that this has inspired other victims, who haven’t found the strength to come forward yet to reach out and report. You will not be alone.”

Record details

AN AGEING paedophile who committed more than 500 child sex offences while he was living in Carlisle has been jailed for more than 30 years.

A judge told 78-year-old Stephen Mahoney, who admitted 12 sample charges encompassing multiple child rapes and indecent assaults against four victims, that he was the most prolific sex offender he had ever seen.

Mahoney originally denied wrongdoing but he finally admitted his guilt, pleading guilty to specimen charges that represent a catalogue of crimes over 17 years. 

They included hundreds of indecent assaults and rapes, dating back to the 1970s. He was finally brought to justice today, more than 50 years after his offending began. The defendant will be on the Sex Offender Register for life.

Until his arrest, Mahoney had been living at Glen Road, Wishaw, Glasgow.

Defence lawyer Jeff Smith said that Mahoney knew the 'inevitable outcome' of the offending but the sentencing was delayed so background reports could assess the defendant’s medical needs before he was jailed.

Mr Smith told Judge Michael Fanning that Mahoney - appearing before the court via a video link from Durham Prison - would spend the rest of his life behind bars.

His primary mitigation were his guilty pleas, said the lawyer.

Mahoney was a 24-year-old man when the authorities got their first clue to his sexual deviance: he was given a conditional discharge for indecently assaulting a female.

A year later, he was given three years for manslaughter.

His “catalogue of abuse” – consisting of almost 560 individual offences - was finally uncovered in June 2020, when one of his victims contacted the police. Those crimes, the court heard, included at least:

• 255 rapes
• 203 indecent assaults
• And 100 acts of indecency with a child
• The youngest victim was just four or five, the court heard.

Judge Fanning told the defendant: “You are certainly the most prolific sexual offender I have encountered in my 32 years in the law. I will steer clear of hyperbole – but the sheer volume of your offending and the period over which it was committed says it all…

“Yours was not one-off youthful indiscretion, grown out of sexual curiosity of immaturity. You are, or were, a sexually driven deviant serial rapist.”

The judge also referred to the impact statements of victims, whose lives were ruined, lived as they were for decades under the lasting shadow of the abuse.

All his victims feared him.

“You remain a high risk of sexual and violent offending,” the judge told Mahoney. During his appearance before the crown court late last year, the defendant appeared via a video link from his home.

He was wearing his slippers, dressing gown and pyjamas.  At today's hearing, Mahoney claimed not to know what was happening. Judge Fanning imposed a determinate sentence of 31 years and six months but also included a two year extension period.

Record details

A convicted sex offender who pretended to be a teenager and sent sexually explicit messages to children on social media has been jailed.

Tom Brown created two accounts on Snapchat, including one he used to pose as his ‘older brother’ and messaged what he thought were girls aged 12 and 13. However he was actually speaking to undercover police officers.

The 34-year-old committed the offences while subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order banning him from using any messaging service to contact anyone under the age of 16.

Brown, who has a number of previous convictions for similar offences, set up an account on Snapchat and began messaging an account he believed belonged to a 13-year-old girl in June 2023. He claimed to be a 14-year-old boy from Sheffield who had an older brother and asked the girl if she would travel to meet them both for sexual activity.

On the same date, Brown also started messaging another account, which he believed to belong to a 12-year-old girl. He initially said he was a 14-year-old from Sheffield but then later claimed to be a 12-year-old from Derby. 

Brown continued messaging this account for several days, asking the girl to send pictures of herself. He also sent pictures and videos to her showing him performing a sex act.

Investigations found the Snapchat account was being accessed via an IP address linked to registered sex offender Brown’s home in Lower Grove Road, Chesterfield.

He was arrested on 19 June 2023 and subsequently charged with:

• attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child
• causing a child aged 13 to 15 to watch/look at an image of sexual activity,
• arrange/facilitate commission of child sex offence – sexual activity – no penetration
• attempt to cause/incite a female child aged under 13 to engage in sexual activity – no penetration
• attempt to cause a female aged 13 or over to engage in sexual activity – no penetration
• five counts of breaching a sexual harm prevention order.

He admitted the charges and appeared at Derby Crown Court for sentencing on Monday 8 January when he was jailed for three years and eight months with an extended licence period of three years. He must also sign the sex offender’s register and was also handed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Record details

A man who began sexually assaulting a girl when she was aged just 10 has been jailed. 

Ryan Hunt, 28, was told he had exploited the girl’s vulnerabilities for his gratification as he was sentenced to three years and three months.

Norwich Crown Court was told he had been aged 16 when he grabbed the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, sexually assaulting her and laughing.  

In a separate charge, he also had sex with a child on the eve of her 13th birthday and this had continued, the court heard. 

Hunt, of The Green, Freethorpe, near Cantley, had denied offences including sexual assault of a child under 13 between 2008 and 2012, and sexual activity with a child between 2014 and 2015. 

He was found guilty by a jury after a trial. 

Sentencing him to three years and three months, Judge Katharine Moore told him: “There was a disparity in age, power and circumstances between you. 

“Your victim was desperate for affection and you played upon this for your gratification.” 

As a result of his conviction, Hunt is also banned from working with children and vulnerable adults. 

Record details

A 45-year-old man has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for sexual offences and assaults in the Dundee area over a 13 year period.

James Henderson was sentenced on Friday, 12 January, 2024 at the High Court in Edinburgh for offences, including assault and rape, committed against four women between 2008 and 2021.

He had previously been found guilty following a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh in November, 2023.

Henderson was sentenced to 14 years, followed by four years extended sentence supervision.

Record details

A child molester who subjected youngsters to repeated sexual abuse and violence during a campaign of cruelty was today (Friday) jailed for nine years.

Thomas Dow (41) carried out a spree of assaults and rape against three victims in crimes spanning 14 years.

Dow preyed on two girls and a boy at addresses in Inverkeithing and Rosyth, and on car trips when he was supposed to be caring for the children.

A judge told him at the High Court in Edinburgh that he had effectively robbed victims of their childhood.

Judge John Morris KC said: "Only a very substantial prison sentence is appropriate for the crimes of which you were convicted."

He ordered that Dow, formerly of Park Road, Lhanbryde, in Moray, should also be monitored for a further two-year period when he can be returned to prison if he breaches the terms of his licence.

Dow had denied a series of charges during an earlier trial but was found guilty of 13 offences committed between June 2003 and December 2017, including crimes of rape, sexual assault, assault and indecent conduct. The court heard that Dow continued to deny any wrongdoing.

Dow began targeting one girl when she was aged seven and subjected her to repeated assaults during which she was hit, punched and kicked on the head and body.

She was also pushed about, struck with a brush and grabbed by the head and hair. The child abuser repeatedly sexual molested her and raped her.

He preyed on a second girl from the age of three and subjected the child to repeated violence. During it she was kicked, punched and pushed, shouted at and threatened.

Dow also put a hand over her mouth and nose, restricting her breathing and hit her with a remote control and other objects.

He also assaulted a boy from the age of three who was punched, kicked, pushed and struck and threatened with violence. The child was also subjected to repeated indecent assaults by Dow.

One victim told the court that she did not like it when Dow was looking after her "because he was abusive".

The woman said: "He would hit me, be verbally abusive to me and be sexually abusive.

"Sometimes he would be quite a happy drunk. Sometimes he would be quite an angry drunk. I was scared he would have another drink and become angry."

The former deliveryman claimed that the victims were lying in their evidence and that he was not a bully.

Defence counsel Michael Anderson KC said: "If there is an alcohol problem in the background he is motivated to deal with it."

Dow was told he would be placed on the sex offenders' register indefinitely following the sentencing.

Record details

A PAEDOPHILE who abducted two young girls from a seafront arcade and then sexually assaulted them is set to be jailed.

Predatory paedophile Jason Hoodlass, 27, has pleaded guilty to multiple sexual offences after the heinous Lincolnshire attack.

Grimsby Crown Court heard he befriended the two girls at a Cleethorpes arcade and gave them money to use the machines on 16 July 2023.

He then took the pair to Ross Castle, a mock fortification ruin, on the promenade and sexually assaulted them.

After, they went to a clothing store in Grimsby town centre, where the Immingham man took indecent photos of the girls in a fitting room.

Hours later, the children left and told an adult what had happened.

Hoodlass admitted to a multitude of offences on 9 January in the Grimsby Crown Court.

He pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual assault by touching a child, three counts of taking indecent images, two counts of breaching a sexual harm prevention order, two counts of voyeurism and two counts of abduction.

Hoodlass has previous convictions for sex offences and was the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order imposed at Hull Crown Court, Grimsby Live reported.

He has a previous conviction for sexual assault of a child under the age of nine years and previous convictions for possession of indecent images of children between 2013 and 2019.

Hoodlass had also already admitted breaching the Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

He admitted two breaches of the order after a member of the sex offender management team went to his property and seized electronic equipment which was later analysed and found to contain indecent images.

He admitted 10 charges in relation to those offences committed in May last year.

Judge Woolfall ordered a pre-sentence report and a further report to assess the dangerousness of the defendant.

He adjourned sentencing until a date in March. Hoodlass was remanded in custody.

PC Eleanor Burgess, from the force’s Protecting Vulnerable People Unit, said: “This was a shocking case, in which a perverted criminal targeted two vulnerable young children and sexually assaulted them for his own depraved gratification.

“I want to commend the children and their family for the courage and bravery that they have shown throughout the investigative and court process.

“By reporting this incident to us they have helped put a dangerous offender before the courts, ultimately resulting in him being remanded in custody and unable to target any other children.

“We take all reports of sexual offences incredibly seriously and will continue to seek prosecution for anyone who commits this type of crime.”

Record details

A paedophile caught with a massive collection of child abuse images had carried out secret online searches for "ISIS rape" and baby porn.

James Somerville, 38, of Hazelfield Court, St Helens, had 217,824 indecent images on five different electronic devices stashed in his home. 217,076 of these were category C images, 375 were category B, and 373 were of the highest category A, "involving children in penetrative sexual activity or sexual activity with an animal, or sadism".

He was caught on January 22 2019 when police executed a search warrant and seized a number of items, including a hard-drive, a USB stick, three storage devices and a disk drive. He denied three counts of making indecent images of children (categories A, B and C), but was found guilty following a trial. He appeared at Liverpool Crown Court today, January 12, for sentence.

Prosecutor Lee Bonner told the court Somerville had used an anonymous browser to carry out online searches for indecent images of children as young as three-years-old and "babies in diapers", as well as for "jihad rape" and "ISIS rape". On his devices, files were found from Eastern European and Russian companies which provided "images of young 'models' under 16 of a sexual nature, with themes such as Christmas or Birthday parties".

Jonathan Rogers, defending, said Somerville continued to maintain his innocence. He said several letters from his family, including his partner and son, showed a "positive side to his character, for example the sacrifices he has made to care for his partner, the charity work he has done for others, the volunteering at soup kitchen in the city centre, and the evidence he had helped strangers who were suffering in his community."

Sentencing Somerville, Judge Simon Killeen said: "It should be shouted in courts throughout England and Wales that this trade, the trade in abusive films and images of children, is utterly horrific. People like you, who download these images, encourage the makers of these to abuse children. There are real people on the other end of these films. "You denied your guilt and still do, and there's clearly a total absence of remorse on your part, or any insight into what the jury, on compelling evidence, found what you had done."

Somerville's girlfriend, supporting him in court, sobbed as he was sentenced to a total of 16 months in prison, and given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order. Somerville had to be ordered by the judge to leave the docks and go to the cells after remaining to talk with his girlfriend.

Record details

A teenage girl was raped in a newsagents after being lured into a back room by a shop worker who had promised her cigarettes.

Saidi Hussain gained his victim's trust by plying her with free vapes before attacking her once they were alone together inside the store. But the 24-year-old "remains in complete denial" over his horrific assault, having accused the youngster of "making the whole thing up".

Liverpool Crown Court heard yesterday, Thursday, that he had befriended the teen as a customer of the store on Linacre Lane in Bootle where he "helped out from time to time". Hussain, of Louis Pasteur Avenue in Netherton, was said to have given her complementary e-cigarettes during past visits before she attended the premises at around 8pm on Sunday, March 5, last year in order to buy cigarettes.

He "told her they were kept in the back of the shop" before "showing her the way through to a back room in the premises", then sexually assaulted her. The defendant then persisted in his vile behaviour by "telling her she could have cigarettes if she performed sexual activity upon him", before exposing himself to the girl and proceeding to rape her on a pile of boxes.

She subsequently fled to a friend's house and disclosed her ordeal. Hussain was arrested the following day, but under interview claimed there had been "absolutely no sexual contact at all" with the complainant.

He later changed his account, stating that she had "initiated all of the sexual contact". However, he then reverted back to his original story at trial.

Arthur Gibson, prosecuting, said: "This was a back room of a shop premises, into which she was tricked to enter. It must have been apparent to him that she had been drinking, and to that extent there was an element of vulnerability about her - in other words, she was in a situation where somebody could take advantage of her, and he did."Iranian national Hussain, an asylum seeker with "no right to remain in the United Kingdom at the present time", has no previous convictions. Gerald Baxter, defending, told the court: "He has no previous record, but of course for this type of offence that is of little significance."

Hussain was found guilty of two counts of rape and one of sexual assault by a jury. Appearing in court via video link and assisted by a Kurdish interpreter, he was jailed for nine years - a term of which he must serve at least two thirds before being released on licence.

Sentencing, Judge David Potter said: "She was known to you as a customer in the shop where you helped out from time to time. She knew you, and you had been friendly towards her and had given her free vapes in the past.

"On this Sunday, she had been drinking and was tipsy but not falling down drunk. She went into the mini market in order to obtain a vape.

"Having got that, she left. She then telephoned a friend, who asked her to go back to the shop to obtain some cigarettes, so she returned to the shop.

"When she returned to the shop, you were the only other person there. She asked you for cigarettes, but you told her they were kept in the back of the shop, and so you showed her the way through to a back room in the premises.

"Once there, you having directed her to be in the back of the shop with you, you raped and sexually assaulted her. By this time, she was in a state of complete panic.

"She did not know what to do. She had been entirely traumatised by your assault of her.

"You were interviewed by the police and lied, saying that there had been absolutely no sexual contact with her at all and that she was, in effect, making the whole thing up. You later changed that account to say that, in fact, she had initiated all of the sexual contact - you being reluctant and she being the person in charge.

"You later changed that account, and before the jury said that no sex took place between you in the back of that shop. She has found it very difficult to come to terms with what happened.

"She had been drinking, and you were friendly from previous occasions. You took advantage of that and isolated her in an unfamiliar environment so as to commit these very serious offences.

"The main mitigation is your previous good character. You came to the United Kingdom in order to flee persecution as a Kurd in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

"While you have clearly abused the protection offered by the United Kingdom by committing these offences, you have otherwise led a law-abiding life. You remain in complete denial of what you have done.

"That is your right, but it means that until you accept what you have done there is very little that can be done towards your rehabilitation. You do not accept any responsibility for your actions that day."

Hussain was also told to sign the sex offenders' register for life. He was given a restraining order preventing him from contacting his victim indefinitely.

Record details

A DISGUSTING sex offender has been jailed after exchanging sexual messages with a girl he believed to be 12.

Louis Smith, 37, was caught out by a group of online paedophile hunters exchanging messages of a sexual nature with a ’12-year-old-girl’ he met online.

Smith appeared at Liverpool Crown Court to be sentenced for one count of ‘intentionally causing a child to look at an image of a person engaging in sexual activity’ and another of ‘attempting to engage in sexual communicate with a child by sending indecent images of himself’.

Prosecuting, Henry Riding told the court how the 37-year-old had begun talking to ‘Grace’ in late 2022 and said the conversation had initially not been sexual. In this initial chat, he was told the girl he was talking to was 12.

The man had been serving a suspended sentence when he first contacted the fake account,

Smith, of Goldcliff Close, Callands, began talking to ‘Grace’ again eight months later in August 2023 – talking to the hunters’ decoy account for just over a week.

In this week, he sent various sexually explicit messages to her, including pictures of himself, and made further sexual requests of ‘Grace’, asking her to send him photos or videos.  

He was then confronted and apprehended by the paedophile hunting group, and later arrested.

Defending Smith, Emily Calman told the court how the Goldcliff Close resident had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.

Ms Calman also went on to stress, ‘He has never done anything like this before’ but admitted ‘this was a nasty offence’.

She also added that, whilst he did not deny the offence, he had been drinking and taking ‘substances’ heavily following a death in the family. This has, according to Ms Calman, been resolved.

Judge Trevor Jones, presiding over the case, said that while Smith had pleaded guilty, he was ‘still minimising his culpability’ according to a pre-sentence report.

He went on to state that the report had assigned a medium risk of reoffending to the 37-year-old man.

Judge Jones gave out a sentence of two years for the most serious offence, reduced to 14 months due to the guilty plea and the fact it was ‘only an attempt’. Smith also received 10 months for the second offence, to be served concurrently.

He will serve an immediate custodial sentence and will be placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years.

Record details

Levi Caddy, aged 33, groomed and abused two girls. He admitted a total of eight charges which included sexual activity with a child, inciting a child into sexual acts, and possession of indecent images of children.

Caddy was sentenced to by a judge at Plymouth Crown Court to nine years in prison on Friday 12 January.

He will also be placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life and be the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Caddy was arrested in June 2022 as part of an investigation by Devon & Cornwall Police’s Public Protection Unit.

His digital devices were seized and forensically examined as part of the enquiries. They were found to contain hundreds of indecent images and videos including the most severe ‘Category A’ content.

Detective Constable Tracey Swift said: “I welcome the conviction of Levi Caddy for the heinous crimes that were committee by him against children.

“He actively pursued a course of conduct where he groomed, sexually assaulted, and incited sexual acts which he committed against two victims.

“I would like to pay tribute to the victims for their tremendous bravery and strength throughout the investigation, and their willingness to make Mr Caddy answer for the crimes that he committed against them.