Description
A Romanian man caught out by paedophile hunters was arrested at an airport after sending a teenage girl indecent images and videos.
Gheorge Paris, 33, told officers he was a "religious" person and "wouldn't do that" when he was questioned about the sexualised chat he had attempted to have with a 13-year-old girl named Lily-Rose.
Lilly-Rose was a decoy used by members of Predator Exposure - a group that works with the police to snare offenders who try and use social media to talk to children for their own sexual gratification.
Prosecutor Bashir Ahmed told Leeds Crown Court on Friday Paris, who appeared via a video link from HMP Leeds, began talking to Lily in May 2021. He said: "She made it clear to him she was 13-years-old. The chat very quickly became sexual in nature. He asked if she wanted to meet in private at his home address. He gave her details of his address and some other personal details like his cars.
"He asked her to send photographs of her naked."
The court was told Paris then sent indecent images of himself, videos of him masturbating and images of naked women. Mr Ahmed said: "He asked her if she wanted to have sex with him and said he would teach her how to do it. She told him she was too young. The chat ended on around 22nd June 2021."
Predator Exposure went to the address in Leeds Paris had given them but he was not there. It was not until April 2 last year that he was arrested at Liverpool John Lennon Airport, the court heard.
Mr Ahmed said: "He was interviewed at a police station and denied being in any chat with Lily or sending pictures or videos to her. He said he was a religious person and wouldn't do that."
Paris also suggested the offences could have actually been the work of a "disgruntled customer seeking revenge for buying a faulty car off him." He entered guilty pleas to the charges of attempting to communicate sexually with a child and attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act at a plea, trial and preparation hearing in January this year.
The court heard he had previous convictions for offences including sexual activity with a child which had taken place in Romania. He had been given prison sentences for the offences.
Mitigating, Jim Littlehales, told the court Paris would be deported at the end of his sentence.
Her Honour Judge Penelope Belcher jailed Paris for 22 months and told him: "The pre-sentence report says you have pro-criminal attitudes especially in relation to sex offending and considers there is a high risk of sex offending with a significant impact on those impacted by it.
"These findings are enormously concerning."
Paris was also ordered to comply with notification requirements as a sex offender for ten years. He was made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for the same amount of time.