Jason Hall 53

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A Liverpool University archaeologist tried to arrange sex with a 13-year-old girl while her mum watched.

Jason Hall discussed how he wanted to molest the girl - and the 50-year-old even took a train to Chester to fulfil his twisted sexual fantasy.

But neither the woman nor her daughter were real and he was instead met by police waiting outside the station.

Officers searched his rucksack and found a pack of condoms and an Easter egg he bought for his intended victim.

And when they searched his home, they discovered a sick stash of more than 2,000 indecent images of children.

Hall, of Greenbank Road, Mossley Hill, was a senior archaeology technician at the university's School of Histories, Languages and Cultures for more than a decade.

Liverpool Crown Court heard undercover officers set up a decoy profile of a woman calling herself Poppy on an adult website.

Neil Bisarya, prosecuting, said she was contacted on the site by Hall, who said he noticed she was based in Chester and that he was in Liverpool and worked at the university, on March 26, 2018.

Poppy told Hall she was a mum-of-two with an eight-year-old son and a daughter aged 13, before two days later telling him she was interested in young teens.

Hall replied "lovely, about your girl's age?" and she agreed and told him her daughter was called Natalie, before Hall said he would like to have sex with her and Poppy said she would like to be present.

Their conversations continued on Skype and an encrypted chat service called qTox and on April 16 that year they discussed him coming to Chester.

Poppy sent Hall two photos, supposedly of her and Natalie, and he sent one of himself in return, before on April 26 they talked about arrangements.

She then set up chats between Hall and Natalie on Skype from May 1, when he called her a "cutie", then on May 8 discussed having sex with her.

Mr Bisarya said Hall sent her of a photo of his erect penis when he was in the bath and said he wanted to have sex with her while her mum watched.

On May 10 he asked for a photo of her bottom and after confirming the arrangement with mother and daughter and promising to bring some chocolate, on the morning of May 11 set off to Chester but was arrested at 11.48am.

Mr Bisarya said his mobile phone was seized along with his rucksack, containing "a packet of condoms with a receipt that had been recently purchased and a Twirl Easter egg".

Officers went to his home and seized 17 items - laptops, computers, hard drives and mobile phones - and found next to his bed a transcript describing sex with a 12-year-old.

Hall, who had no previous convictions, made no comment in a police interview, but later confessed after his devices were analysed.

They revealed 102 Category A images - the worst category showing child rape - plus 271 Category B and 1796 Category C images.

In total he had downloaded 2,169 child sex abuse images between September 2005 and May 2018, plus 13 animal porn files.

He admitted arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence, attempting to cause or incite a child to engage in sexual activity, attempting to cause a child look at an image of sexual activity, three counts of downloading indecent images of children, and possessing extreme porn.

Rebecca Smith, defending, said Hall knew he would receive a "lengthy" jail sentence and made admissions to police in a second interview.

She said despite the contents of his rucksack, no sexual activity was ever going to take place because Natalie was a "fictional character".

Ms Smith said Hall was "co-operative" and "candid" and had shown a willingness to "explore and understand his criminal behaviour".

She said he completed work with child sex abuse prevention charity The Lucy Faithfull Foundation, plus other courses and counselling.

The lawyer said Hall had references from his parents and sister, who talked of his "introverted and isolated adulthood" and now he had received assistance and been "honest and truthful" with them, they hope to provide him with the support he needs when he leaves prison.

Ms Smith added her client had been "held in high regard" at the university faculty, won awards, and they had been "proud" of his achievements.

Judge Anil Murray noted the "high disparity of age" between Hall and his intended victim, along with his "grooming behaviour".

He said: "The absence of a real victim does not reduce culpability."

However, the judge said he had to make a downward adjustment to recognise the absence of actual harm, as the child didn't exist.

Judge Murray said the pre-sentence report concluded that Hall demonstrated "entrenched sexual interests in children" and assessed him as a "high risk of sexual recidivism and a high risk of causing serious harm to children".

He said: "I agree completely with those assessments."

The judge also noted that Hall's mum said he was "usually a caring son" and his sister said he had expressed remorse to her.

He jailed Hall for two years and eight months, of which he will serve half behind bars.

Judge Murray ordered him to sign on the Sex Offenders Register and to comply with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years.