Locations
Ackleton Gardens, Wolverhampton, WV3
Description
A man who arranged to meet a ‘young girl’ for sex after grooming her online, has been jailed after it was revealed he was messaging an undercover cop.
Paul Darley began speaking to a girl who he believed was 13, in an online chatroom in May this year.
The 67-year-old sent the girl increasingly explicit messages, asked for her age on more than one occasion, and commented that it was ‘a nice age’ before arranging to meet her in Derby for sex.
Unbeknown to Darley, the girl was actually an undercover police officer.
Darley was arrested in the car park of McDonald’s in Markeaton Park on 19 May, after arranging to meet the ‘girl’ there at 10am that morning.
He was charged with sexual communication with a child and arranging sexual activity with a child and remanded to appear at court on 20 May.
A magistrate further remanded Darley into prison custody.
Darley, of Ackleton Gardens, Wolverhampton admitted the offences during a hearing on 8 July.
He appeared at Derby Crown Court on 21 October and was handed a prison term of 8 years and 4 months.
He was also given an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) and is required to remain registered with police.
Police Constable Eloise Cooper, from Derbyshire police’s Protecting Children Online Team, said:
“Paul Darley poses a serious risk to children – not only did he knowingly share explicit messages with who he believed was a 13-year-old girl – but he was also willing to travel more than 40 miles to sexually abuse that child.
“Thankfully, Darley was caught before he was able to harm to a child and is now behind bars for a significant period.
“We take all reports of child abuse and exploitation extremely seriously, and will continue to do our utmost to root out offenders.”