Philip Street 43

Description

A paedophile who said he wanted to take a girl to bed has avoided jail.

Philip Street, 41, sent sexually explicit messages to a person he believed was a 13-year-old child.

He asked the supposed girl whether she would make him wear a condom if they were to have sex.

The pervert, of Bedford Avenue, Rock Ferry, was actually talking to an undercover police officer.

But a judge said his "very significant disability" substantially reduced his responsibility for the crime.

Street admitted attempting to engage in sexual communications with a child, which carries a maximum sentence of two years in jail.

Liverpool Crown Court heard Street's solicitors previously raised concerns about whether he was capable of entering a plea.

Derek Jones, prosecuting, said Street had a profile on Chat Avenue, a social media website "mainly used by teenagers aged between 13 and 18", with 13 being the minimum age.

He said Street entered a chat room called "teen chat" on February 12, 2021 and messaged the decoy profile "Kaylee13".

Mr Jones said: "The defendant told her straight away he was 40 years of age and asked her whether she had a girlfriend.

"She then informed him that she was 13.

"It was actually Kaylee who said 'we can move to Skype because we can't share pictures on here'.

"The defendant did say at that point 'I haven't asked for any pictures', but they then agreed to go onto Skype."

The prosecutor added: "When they went onto Skype, he jokingly said to her 'you will be after a picture of my d*** next' and then said 'I will show you my d*** later if you're good'.

"He then asked her whether she would make him wear a condom if they were to have sex."

Street sent a clothed picture of himself to Kaylee, before telling her: "I would like to take you to bed, I would be gentle with you."

He asked further sexually explicit questions and requested a photo of her face, to which the officer sent a generic photo, which Street said was "pretty".

Mr Jones said the pair discussed a female friend of Kaylee, and Street talked about "him being involved with the two girls".

Street did not suggest meeting up with the girl during three conversations, which lasted around an hour and a half in total.

He was traced by his email address and arrested at his home on April 13, when a police search did not reveal any illegal material.

Mr Jones said: "He was interviewed, your honour will have seen not just with an appropriate adult, but somebody acting as an intermediary.

"He accepted the messages were from him, albeit he couldn't remember some of them. He claimed to be drunk when he sent some of them and denied having a sexual interest in children."

Bernice Campbell, defending, said her client, who had no previous convictions, was accompanied at court by his uncle, who is his carer.

Judge Stuart Driver, QC, said: "This is an exceptional case Ms Campbell. The recommendation in the pre-sentence report is realistic and that's the course that I'm going to follow."

The judge told Street he would have to sign on the Sex Offenders Register and comply with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for five years.

Judge Driver said he would not read out the details of the order "as I think it will be hard for you to understand''.

However, he said they included restrictions on Street's use of the internet, and he must not attempt to contact, have unsupervised contact with, or live in the same house as anyone under 16, unless exceptions applied.

He said: "This is a complicated order. I'm afraid it's your responsibility and the responsibility of your carers to make sure you know the rules and that you stick to them, or you will be committing an offence for which you could be sent to prison."

Judge Driver said: "In mitigation, there was no child, this was an adult impersonating a child, and your messages were confined to a single day.

"However, the most important piece of mitigation in this case is the fact that you suffer from a very significant disability.

"You have cerebral palsy and spastic paraplegia, which substantially reduces your culpability for this offending.

"You're in your 40s and have never offended before and of course you pleaded guilty."

The judge handed Street a two-year community order, with a 15-day Rehabilitation Activity Requirement and a sex offender treatment programme.