Locations
Kingfisher Road, Sprowston, Norwich, NR7
Description
A man confronted by paedophile hunters has admitted attempting to groom a teenage girl online.
Shaun Pardon, 54, believed he was chatting to a 13-year-old, but it was in fact a decoy account set up by adults to catch and hunt down online child sex offenders.
He was confronted at his home by members of the group, with video footage of the encounter then posted online.
Norwich Magistrates’ Court was told he had begun messaging the profile in December 2023 stating “hello gorgeous” and had continued contacting it, despite being told the girl he was talking to was supposedly aged just 13.
Sarah Fiddy, prosecuting, said in other messages he had asked: “Do you want to play a sex game?”
He had sent an image of his penis, despite the decoy account talking about her day at school and saying that she needed to go to bed early.
On other occasions he asked to see her naked.
Pardon, of Kingfisher Road in Sprowston, pleaded guilty to attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child over a two week period between December 31, 2023 and January 19, 2024.
He also admitted possession of cannabis.
The footage of him being confronted by members of the online group sees him stating: “I’m only talking to that one. I talk to her now and again.”
He denied knowing the age of the girl despite being confronted with evidence of various chats in which she talked about school, after-school clubs and made other references that made it clear just how young she supposedly was.
Deputy District Judge Charlotte Hart ordered a pre-sentence report to consider all options including immediate custody.
She told him: “I do not rule out committing you to the crown court to be sentenced but that is not my starting point. There is a very strong likelihood you will have to sign the sex offenders register.”
He will be sentenced on February 20.