Locations
Greenhead Street, Burslem, Stoke-On-Trent, Staffordshire, ST6
Description
A man has avoided an immediate prison sentence after he tried to meet who he thought was a 13-year-old girl for sex.
Mitchell Taylor messaged several accounts of girls under the age of 16.
He began speaking to 'Ellie' who he planned to meet at Stoke Railway Station on May 28, 2021.
But Taylor, who was 22 at the time, found that he had been duped by a paedophile hunter group.
Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard how he told a 13-year-old he 'liked young girls,' StokeonTrentLive reports.
Taylor - who has 13 previous convictions for 27 offences - was later arrested while on bail for threatening a security guard with a six-inch kitchen knife at a housing support premises.
Prosecutor, Syed Ahmed, told the court: "Predator group STOP set up a fictitious social media profile posing as a 13-year-old girl called Ellie.
"Mr Taylor contacted the account on March 20, 2021, with a message saying ‘Hey’. The conversation quickly turned sexual. The decoy informed Mr Taylor she was 13. He replied saying he was 22.
"He asked her if she would like to be his girlfriend. She said she didn’t know as she might get into trouble.
"He asked to see ‘sexy pictures’ of her. She said she didn’t know what this meant and asked Mr Taylor what he would like her to do."
Taylor then described the pictures she could send and offered to share intimate images of himself with her.
Mr Ahmed continued: "The girl said she didn’t know as she didn’t think her mum would be happy with it. Mr Taylor told the decoy that her mum didn’t need to know.
"The defendant arranged to meet with the girl at Stoke-on-Trent Railway Station on May 28, so she could come back to his house. He was instead met by paedophile hunters.
"He denied having sent any messages to the decoy and told the hunters that ‘Kieran had been sending the messages’.”
Taylor was interrogated by detectives on May 28, 2021 and answered ‘no comment’ to all questions.
On December 17, he admitted he knew he was speaking to a child - but denied having any intention of sexual activity.
Taylor, of Greenhead Street, Burslem, pleaded guilty to a charge of attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming on May 28, 2021.
Matthew Ness, mitigating, said that while Taylor had an extensive criminal record, this was his first sexual offence. He said the crimes were a result of his 'vulnerable' mental state.
He said: “At the time of the offending he was in early 20s - but he had the sexual and mental maturity of a teenager.
"Mr Taylor’s psychiatric reports show he suffers from significant learning disabilities.
"It is no coincidence that his offending completely stopped in 2021, ever since he started working with the learning disability support services.”
Taylor was given a two-year suspended sentence, a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order, 100 hours of unpaid labour, and ordered to pay £500 in court costs. He was also ordered to complete a sex offender rehabilitation course.