Jason Yeomans 36

Description

He was tricked and trapped by online vigilantes

This Derby paedophile tried to meet an underage girl he groomed online but he had been lured into a trap by self-styled paedophile hunters and was arrested. Derby Crown Court heard how Jason Yeomans began messaging what he thought was under 16s just weeks after being released halfway through a 10-year jail sentence for previous child sex offences.

In them he asked about what underwear they were wearing and if they'd had any sexual experiences. But the sick 34-year-old pervert was snared when one of the decoy girls reported him to Derbyshire police.

Handing him a five-year sentence, Judge Shaun Smith QC said: "I have to assess if you pose a risk to the public and I have absolutely no doubt that you do. Your (probation service) offender manager report concludes that you pose a risk in relation to children under the age of 16 and there is no doubt you have a sexual interest in children.

"Hopefully that will be addresses while you are in custody. You suffered significant trauma in 2007 as a result of your partner being killed and that sent you into a downward spiral including you resorting to looking at pornography. You sought solace in young people and that was completely and utterly inappropriate."

Sarah Slater, prosecuting, said Yeomans was handed a long prison sentence in 2016 for child sex offences and was released from custody in September of last year. She said he was sent to live at a bail hostel in Bass Street, off Ashbourne Road, and within a matter of weeks was contacting young children online through one of his two mobile phones.

Miss Slater said he was told by one girl she was aged nine and he replied saying he was aged 12. But the prosecutor said that girl was really an adult posing as a young girl. She said he began talking online to a second girl who said she was 14 and lived in Tamworth but this too was really an adult posing as a youngster.

Miss Slater said: "When police seized his mobile phone there were hundreds of messages between them from October 19 to November 1. He said he lived in Derby and was aged 34 and they arranged to in Burton where he said they could kiss. But she made her excuses saying she'd had a massive row with her mum which he replied to with 'okay we will rearrange it' and he asked about coming to Tamworth to meet her."

Yeomans, who is originally from Alfreton, pleaded guilty to attempted sexual communication with a child and attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming. He has previous convictions involving indecent images of children dating back as far as 2010.

Digby Johnson, his barrister, said his client's partner died in a road crash on the A38 in 2007 and that he has never had grief counselling for that. He said that Yeomans used pornography to satisfy his late teen urges and "started to disappear into the world of the internet".

Yeomans' five-year sentence is made up of two years in prison plus a three-year extended licence. It means he will be eligible to apply for parole two-thirds of the way through the custodial element of the sentence.

However, he has been recalled on licence from a previous child sex offence and will not be released until 2026 at the earliest. The defendant was also handed a new, lifetime, sexual harm prevention order and will remain on the sex offender register for life.