Description
A convicted paedophile arranged to meet a 13-year-old ‘boy’ in a park after telling him he was looking for a ‘regular f*** buddy’.
David Cox, 57, began chatting with the ‘child’ online and immediately asked his age, where he was from and his sexual preferences. When the ‘boy’ said he was 13, from Manchester and didn’t like girls, Cox suggested they meet at Queens Park, off Rochdale Road, before adding that he was ‘looking for a regular f*** buddy’.
Over the next few days he sent vile sexual messages asking if the boy was “horny” and said he would teach him how to commit sexual acts. In July this year, Cox went to the park but was met by a vigilante group, and it became clear he had actually been speaking to an adult decoy.
The police were called and his bag was searched. It was found to contain lube and a torch, Manchester Crown Court heard.
Cox, of Monsall, had previously been stung in 2017, when he arranged to meet a 12-year-old boy in a children’s park, but again was met by a paedophile hunter group. Today (December 22), after pleading guilty to attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and attempting to meet a boy following grooming, he has been jailed.
Prosecuting, Charlotte Rimmer said Cox began chatting with the ‘boy’, who was actually a member of the group, Saving Our Children.
After contacting the boy on July 22 this year, he queried his sexual preferences and told him he was 45. He then suggested meeting up.
He gave the boy his number and suggested messaging him on WhatsApp, before telling him he was ‘very handsome’, and asking if he smoked or drank.
“At around midnight, the defendant asked whether he felt horny, whether he was erect and said he would show him how to get [an erection],” Ms Rimmer said.
Cox then told the boy he would show him how to carry out sexual acts before telling him to ‘keep it a secret’.
“He also said he got caught out before with a younger guy. When asked what happened, he said he got away with it and said the other person was 12 and was about to [perform a sex act upon him] when he left,” the prosecutor said.
“The conversation continued and the defendant suggested they could be boyfriends. He also asked if his mum had put a tracker in his phone.”
On July 25, Cox agreed to meet the boy at Queens Park, in Harpurhey, but when he arrived he tried to run away after seeing members of the group waiting for him. It was then he was caught.
The court heard he had 19 previous convictions, one of which included similar offences of attempting to meet a boy following grooming.
“The defendant engaged in conversation on Grindr - this was with another decoy. He said he wanted to have sex and said he brought alcohol, poppers and lubricant,” Mr Rimmer said.
It was said he was HIV positive at the time.
Defending, Adrian Palmer said his client was expecting to get more time in prison for the offences. He said he was on medication which has seen the HIV become ‘undetectable’, meaning it cannot be passed on, and added that Cox had recently been diagnosed with prostate cancer.
In sentencing, Recorder Neil Usher said his only mitigation was his early guilty plea.
“You thought you were communicating with a 13-year-old boy, and you attended the meeting with lubricant,” he said.
“I am satisfied that you took that with you because you were intending to engage in sexual acts with the child.”
Cox, of Keyhaven Walk, was jailed for 28 months with an extended period of three years on licence after the judge found him to be a dangerous offender under the sentencing provisions. That means he must serve a full seven months in prison, then two thirds of the 28 month sentence before he is considered for release by the parole board.
He was also made subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and must sign onto the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely.