Description
A paedophile caught sending sexual photos to two 'girls' blamed his innocent brothers when interviewed by police.
Wayne Collins thought he was chatting to children when he discussed sex and sent naked pictures of himself online.
In reality both "Bella", 13, and 12-year-old "Jess" - who he met on Kik Messenger - were undercover police officers.
Police raided the 29-year-old's home in Belmont Road, Anfield and seized his Sony Xperia phone, containing indecent images of children and his collection of "d*** pics".
Liverpool Crown Court heard how the pervert then tried to worm out of trouble by claiming his brothers used the device.
Katy Appleton, prosecuting, said Collins chatted with Bella, an officer from South West Regional Organised Crime Unit (SWROCU), between July 16 and August 9, 2019.
Then 28-year-old Collins, using the profile wayno37, claimed he was 24 when Bella said she was 13 and from Exeter.
After one day he turned the conversation to sex and sent a photo of an erect penis, before asking about her breast size.
Collins said "u can practice sucking on my big lollipop" and said: "Don't show anyone the convo or pics lol x"
Ms Appleton said he sent a picture of him "naked to the waist down and wearing only his boxer pants", asked for a photo of Bella in shorts and a bikini top, and instructed her how to perform sex acts and asked "so u wana lose ur virginity to me".
SWROCU was unable to identify Collins, but North West Regional Organised Crime Unit (NWROCU) tracked him down.
On September 2 and 3, 2019 he spoke with a NWROCU officer pretending to be Jess, a 12-year-old from Cheshire.
Collins - now claiming to be 22 - sent her a photo of his erect penis, asked about her breasts and for photos, then sent an image of himself holding his penis.
He asked if he could "f***" her and the next day asked for photos, then suggested they meet so she could suck his "lollipop".
NWROCU discovered Collins' IP address and Merseyside Police went to his home on November 13, 2019.
Collins claimed he hadn't had KIK for about two years before his Xperia phone - found to contain two Category C indecent images of a child - was seized.
When interviewed, Collins claimed his KIK account was blocked and he hadn't used it since moving into his home in June, despite confirming the profile was his.
Ms Appleton said: "He denied sending images of his penis to any child but admitted that his mobile telephone would have images of his penis, which he has sent to adults.
"He stated that as his phone is not PIN protected, his two brothers could have used it without his knowledge."
Collins, who said his brothers used the phone to call his step dad, denied being sexually attracted to children and said while he had been sent indecent images in the past, he blocked them straight away.
He denied putting a picture of his torso on his KIK account or talking with Jess, and when he said he was 28, not 22, told police one of his brothers was 20 or 21.
Police spoke to his two brothers, one of whom said he had been to Collins' home three times that year, but never used his phone or social media.
The other brother said he lived with Collins for two weeks in 2019, but spent all his time at work or at his girlfriend's.
He admitted using Collins' phone once in the past, when he said he and the other brother found indecent images of girls, which girls had sent to Collins, and "d*** pics" Collins had sent back.
He told police he called Collins "dirty" and they had an argument, which he told his mum about.
The court heard a probation officer for this brother confirmed they had met with him at the time Collins was chatting to Jess.
When interviewed again, Collins called the brother who told police about the images on his phone "a pathological liar" and said he thought that brother may have used his internet on September 2.
He then claimed he was with that brother during his probation appointment.
Collins, who has no previous convictions, admitted downloading and possessing indecent images of a child, two counts of attempting to sexually communicate with a child, two counts of attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity and two counts of attempting to cause a child to look at an image of a person engaging in sexual activity.
Paul Becker, defending, said Collins, of Croxteth Drive, Sefton Park, had a character reference from his step dad, who was sitting in the public gallery.
Referring to denials he made in a pre-sentence report, Mr Becker said: "I think the best I can say for the defendant, given his vehement denials, is these are very embarrassing matters and he was interviewed in the presence of his parents.
"He's brought shame upon himself and his family and he's facing the prospect of an immediate period of custody."
Mr Becker argued that Collins and the community would be better served if Collins was spared jail and sent on a Horizon sex offenders treatment programme, rather than spending time in prison, when he might not get the help he needs.
He said Collins was "not sophisticated", adding: "He seems to me to be socially isolated, he seems to me to be the sort of person who doesn't have many friends, who is far more comfortable being on a device as opposed to being in a crowd of people. He lacks self-esteem, he lacks confidence."
The judge, Recorder Mark Ainsworth, told Collins: "The offences are very serious and you must appreciate just how serious they are."
He jailed Collins for 20 months and told him to sign on the Sex Offenders Register and comply with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years.