Locations
Wilks Road, Dartford, DA2
Description
A pervert tried to meet a 14-year-old boy for sex in an Eltham graveyard only to meet a vigilante paedophile hunting group.
Paul Austin-Roberts, 43, from Wilks Road in Dartford, was sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court on May 12 after being pleading guilty to grooming and attempting to cause a child watch sexual acts.
Austin-Roberts engaged in conversations with what he believed to be a 14-year-old boy, exchanging multiple sexual messages.
He arranged to meet the boy at Falconwood Cemetery, where the supposed teen’s grandparents were buried.
When he arrived there on July 24 last year he was met by members of the vigilante paedophile hunting group The Hunted One.
According to a member of The Hunted One, Austin-Roberts was “very aggressive and determined to get away from the scene.”
Austin-Roberts originally pleaded not guilty to attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming, but changed it to a guilty plea at a later date.
He also pleaded guilty to attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act, and intending to pervert the course of justice.
The pervert avoided prison, as the court handed him a 22 jail month sentence, suspended for 18 months.
He was also ordered to take 100 hours on the sex offender’s programme and 100 hours of unpaid work.
Police have warned against vigilantism after a sting operation by The Hunted One at Bluewater resulted in two passersby getting into a fight with the alleged paedophile.
The Hunted One has said that it will no longer stream sting operations and its website has been taken offline, but the group are still active and posting on social media.