Locations
Wythenshawe, Manchester, M22
Description
Benjamin Behan, 25, has been jailed after being caught out by paedophile hunters
A pervert chef admitted to his family he had 'done it again' after being caught out by paedophile hunters.
Benjamin Behan, 25, had been ordered to undergo the Horizon scheme, which aims to rehabilitate sex offenders and change their warped outlook, after being found with vile images of children.
But Behan, from Wythenshawe said it was a 'load of cr**'. He claimed that sessions being moved online during the pandemic made them more difficult for him to follow.
"He didn't engage with it as best he could have done," Behan's barrister Mark Shanks told Manchester Crown Court.
"Because of his autism he deals much better face to face, he found it much more difficult to absorb it."
Despite attempts to help him reform, Behan has now been locked up after he once again displayed a sexual interest in children. He was exposed by paedophile hunters, with a decoy account being set up in the name of a 14-year-old girl.
Behan told her he was a head chef at a pub, and the pair had some 'innocuous' chat about coronavirus before he turned the conversation sexual. He suggested that they could go to a hotel room, and asked whether she wanted to be naked in bed with him, prosecutor Amanda Johnson said.
Behan asked the 'girl' how long it would take her to get undressed, during online conversations over a two day period. Members of the paedophile hunter group went to confront Behan at his home, and his stepfather answered the door.
"Yes, I've done it again," Behan admitted to his stepfather.
In interview with the police, Behan accepted having sexual chats but said the idea of meeting up in a hotel room was 'pure fantasy'. Mr Shanks said prison has had a 'significant effect' on Behan, who has been locked up on remand.
"He has not been to prison before, he is absolutely certain he will not be going back to prison," the barrister said.
Behan, of Inglesham Close, Wythenshawe, pleaded guilty to attempting to cause a child to engage in sexual activity, attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act.
"Your behaviour, I'm afraid, has demonstrated that you will not comply. You described the Horizon programme as a 'load of cr**', so custody must follow," sentencing Judge Anthony Cross QC said, before jailing Behan for 16 months.