Michael Richards, 34, was caught trying to meet the 'girl' he believed he had been grooming via the internet with explicit videos and graphic messages.
At Wood Green Crown Court the Enfield offender was sentenced to two years' imprisonment.
He pleaded guilty to sexual communication with a child; causing a child aged 13 to 15 to watch/look at an image of sexual activity and facilitating the commission of a child sex offence.
Richards was also issued with an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO), restricting his contact with any females under 16 years-old.
He will also be subject to Sex Offender Registration for life.
The court heard how detectives from the Metropolitan Police's Central Specialist Crime were contacted on Monday, May 4 by an online child abuse activist group.
They informed police of a case of suspected online grooming by Richards, who was using the pseudonym Jason Langham.
In December, last year he initiated contact with who he believed to be a 14-year-old girl, but was in fact an adult decoy.
The communication quickly became sexual and despite being told several times his contact was just 14 years-old he kept communicating and encouraged the child to meet him in Enfield.
On Thursday, May 7 an operational team were deployed to the area of the planned meet.
Detectives suddenly spotted a slim, unkempt looking man walking the streets, with his hood up whilst on his mobile phone.
Following a closer look they confirmed the man was the suspect they were searching for, having identified him from his online image.
They stopped him and soon confirmed his identity was not Jason Langham, but Michael Richards.
He was arrested and his mobile phone was seized.
Detective Inspector Mark Rogers from Specialist Crime Command: said “Richards is a predatory offender and thankfully on this occasion no child was harmed.
“I would like to remind activist groups that we do have significant concerns about people taking the law into their own hands.
“Although seemingly well-meaning, this can significantly hinder our work, compromise on-going investigations and negate months of investigative work.
“There is also the risk that it can potentially identify people who are completely innocent and mistakenly associate them with grooming offences.
“Our advice to anyone who has concerns about online grooming, is they should report them to their local police, or to Crimestoppers.
“If you think a child is at immediate risk of harm call 999.”
No comments:
Post a Comment