Stuart Tudor 43

Description

A man told a girl he thought was 14 he wanted to "spank" her and encouraged her to take cocaine. Stuart Tudor, previously of Connah's Quay, but now living in Cheshire, engaged in explicit sexual conversations with the girl on the social media platform Scout and on What'sApp.

But the "girl called Olivia from Flint" was in fact a decoy deployed by paedophile hunters who confronted Tudor on the doorstep of his home Mold Crown Court heard today.

Prosecutor Rosemary Proctor said Tudor sent a series of messages to the decoy in August last year. He asked if she was wearing leggings, how hot she likes her bath, if she takes her phone with her to the bath, and if she wanted a hand to wash her back. He went on to say he had taken lines of cocaine, the court was told.

There was a further exchange of explicit messages into August. He told her they should spend time together where they could watch a film, take drugs, drink alcohol and spank her buttocks. He then sent an image of a pair of reddened buttocks, WalesOnline reported.

He asked the decoy about her pyjamas, if she had a boyfriend, if she had kissed anyone and said he would teach her how to kiss. Tudor said they could have sex and they could either park up in his car or meet in a hotel room, the court heard.

The decoy asked Tudor if it bothered him she was 14 years old and he replied "You like me because I'm older yeah?" The next day the defendant sent a video lasting 38 seconds of a woman being spanked, and told her to delete it straight away.

On August 27, 2022, six members of the paedophile group of which the decoy was a member confronted Tudor at his home and the police attended. He was arrested and a Samsung phone was seized, but he answered "no comment" in interview.

Tudor, now of Old Chester Road in Great Sutton, Ellesmere Port, pleaded guilty to four counts of attempting to incite a child under 16 to engage in sexual activity, and one count of attempting to cause a child to look at an image of sexual activity. The court heard he was of previous good character.

In mitigation, defence barrister Robin Boag said his client had the "sense" to plead guilty at the first opportunity. He conceded the defendant had initially sought to blame his use of cocaine and "boredom", and acknowledged there was an element of sexual gratification in his client's actions.

Sentencing, Recorder Simon Mills said: "If a man chooses to play with social media platforms on whatever and they are engaging in sexual communication with somebody saying they are 14, 13, sometimes younger than that, if they take that step and continue with the conversation once an age is claimed.

"They're first of all taking the risk that might be a genuine vulnerable child and also, in this day and age, they're taking the risk it's a group of people, like the one individual in this case, who ruthlessly act to expose people in this way. This court wonders why people do it, because it's a wicked thing to do and the risks of being caught are extremely high. The court has weekly cases like this where people throw away their good character and reveal in themselves an urge to communicate with a child in a sexual way."

Tudor was sentenced to two years imprisonment. He was also made subject to sex offender notification requirements and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years.