Aled Jones 35

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A dad who sent sexual messages and images to whom he thought were three children was in fact speaking to decoys, a court heard.

Aled Jones believed he was speaking to a 10-year-old girl when he said he wanted to have sex with her, sent an explicit image of himself, and warned her not to show it to her parents.

The 32-year-old, of Dewi Avenue, Holywell, also "pleaded" with whom he thought were two 14-year-old girls for sexual images of themselves, after telling them in explicit terms what he wanted to do with them.

However, Mold Crown Court heard Jones was talking to online undercover paedophile hunter group pretending to be young girls.

Judge Timothy Petts jailed him for 28 months after he admitted seven attempted child sex offences.

They included three counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, attempting to cause a child aged 14 to look at an image of sexual activity, attempting to cause a child aged 14 to engage in sexual activity, attempting to arrange or facilitate the commission of a child sex offence, and attempting to cause a child aged 10 to watch a sexual act.

The Airbus worker was made the subject of a 10-year sexual harm prevention order and ordered to register with the police as a sex offender for the same period.

Judge Petts said: "The offences you committed sexually were against people you believed were children.

"Unbeknown to you, they were all adult decoys.

In each case, you knew the age they were purporting to be and that did not deter you in turning the discussions to sexual language, sexualised requests and grooming behaviour.

Prosecuting barrister Oliver King, said the messages were sent on KIK, and the most explicit was to the fictional 10-year-old who mhe suggested having sex with.

Asked whether she liked dirty talk, he followed the conversation up asking for a picture, and by asking whether she ever wore tight jeans or a thong.

Despite making it clear she was uncomfortable with the chat and changing the subject, Mr King said Jones groomed her and tried to build her trust by talking about pets.

When he seemed to have developed her trust, he then turned the conversation back round to whether she had ever been kissed, Mr King said.

At one point, the court heard how he began messaging the decoy from work.

He even went as far as saying he had previously had sexual encounters with other girls and that he had made them feel ok.

The defendant also asked the fictional 14-year-old girl whether she wanted a boyfriend, before turning the conversation to what clothes she wore.

He asked whether she wore tight jeans or leggings, before eventually moving on to what underwear she had on.

Encouraging her to send explicit images, he sent one of his torso and asked for one in return.

Jones told the girl she was hot and that he had become sexually aroused by her.

He explained to her what that meant when she told him she did not understand, and then sent her an explicit image.

The defendant then asked whether he would let him touch her in private places.

Contacting a second decoy around the same time, who he also thought was a 14-year-old girl, Jones followed the same pattern of discussion.

He told the girl he wanted to kiss her and join her in the shower, before pleading with her to send images of her bottom.

Mr King said Jones made no secret of where he lived, where he worked and that he had a young daughter.

The chat logs gathered by the decoys were passed on and a sting was carried out where members of the vigilante group turned up at the defendant's address and confronted him.

It was live streamed on Facebook, the court heard, before being passed on to the police.

Jones was arrested on December 21 and admitted the offences.

Asked why he had engaged in sexualised chat with children, he said he did not know.

Defending barrister Andrew Green said Jones had never been in trouble with the police before and that the defendant had told him how the experience had scared him for life.

Mr Green said: Its important to recognise the seriousness of these offences and that they represent a sexual interest in children."

He added the offences had broken his family. He said Jones had also lost his reputation and employment as a result.

Many people would feel that he deserves nothing less, Mr Green added.

He argued Jones best mitigation was his early guilty plea, that he had no previous convictions and had shown remorse.

Recognising there were three potential victims and that activity was incited, he stressed the activity was never going to occur because they were not real children.