But in each case, they were actually communicating online with undercover police officers, or so-called “paedophile hunters.”
Those online conversations are what led to their downfall, allowing those on the other end to compile evidence against them, ultimately resulting in their convictions.
The majority of these offenders believed they were exchanging messages with children, some under the age of 12.
Three offenders, however, believed they were communicating with parents of young children, who shared their interest in child abuse.
Sheffield judges have sent each one of them to begin stints in prison, ranging in length from 16 months to 11 years.
1. 14 sex offenders snared by undercover cops & paedophile hunters online
14 sex offenders snared by undercover cops & paedophile hunters online. Top row, left to right: Mark Best; Mark Priest; Said Mezour and Timothy Newberry. Middle row, left to right: Jared Lamb; Lee Haughton; Darrel Kettleborough and Andrew Bowes. Third row left to right: Luke Pryor; Gary Hutton; Carl Grice and Ivor Dodd. Bottom row, left to right: Martin Dawes and Abdu Omar | SYP/Adobe
2. Abdu Omar: Jailed for six years for attempting to meet "girl," 14, for sex
Over the course of two months, Abdu Omar sent vile sexual messages to four online accounts he believed belonged to young girls aged just 13 and 14. In reality, all of the four accounts were being operated by paedophile hunter groups. Omar, of Kirton Road, Pitsmoor, Sheffield, made the initial contact, Sheffield Crown Court heard on July 21, 2026. Despite being repeatedly told that the girls he thought he was speaking to were in their early teens, he quickly turned the conversation to sex, and asked them to send him pictures. James Baird, prosecuting, said that when one of the groups behind one of the profiles he was chatting to told Omar she was 14-years-old, he replied “good.” Omar subsequently made plans to meet one of the girls at Sheffield railway station. Jailing Omar for six years, Judge Peter Hampton said: “You were there, fully intending to have sex with a 14-year-old girl…either at a hotel or at a friend’s home. “You weren’t met with a 14-year-old girl, you were met with paedophile hunters.” Mr Baird said Omar, then aged 21, was arrested on the spot. Jurors found him guilty of five counts attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and one count of arranging/facilitating the commission of a child sex offence. | SYP
3. Martin Dawes: Sentenced to six months' custody, suspended for 18 months, in July 2026
“You’ve brought immense shame on yourself.” These are the words an 80-year-old man with an “obsessive and enthusiastic” sexual interest in young girls was told, after he was caught sending vile messages to a “child.” Martin Dawes’ catalogue of sexual offences began with the viewing and downloading of child sexual abuse images. It subsequently progressed to the distribution of such an image, along with sexual communications to an online account belonging to an individual who purported to be a 13-year-old girl, but was in fact an undercover police officer. During the course of the communication, Dawes - a journalist who worked for The Star for several years but more recently has been featured in The Tribune - asked the girl about her breast size and level of sexual experience. Dawes told the “girl” he liked small breasts, prosecutor Amy Earnshaw told the court. She said Dawes, who had the username “granddad” also asked the girl for an image of herself. The Recorder of Sheffield, Judge Jeremy Richardson KC, described Dawes’ communications as “vile,” adding: “It appears from what you’ve told police that you are obsessive and enthusiastic about sexual activity with young girls.” Dawes, of Kenbourne Road, Nether Edge, Sheffield, pleaded guilty to one count of an adult attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child; four counts of making indecent images of children; one count of possessing an extreme pornographic image and one count of distributing an indecent image of a child at an earlier hearing. Sentencing Dawes to six months’ custody, suspended for 18 months, Judge Richardson told him: “You’ve brought shame on yourself, your wife and your wider family. You will also be on the sex offenders’ register.” As part of Dawes’ suspended sentence order, he will be required to complete a 40-day rehabilitation activity requirement. | Iconic Media Group
4. Ivor Dodd: Convicted sex offender snared by paedophile hunters after sending sexual messages to "girl"
Rotherham man Ivor Dodd was first brought before the courts almost a decade ago, in 2017, when he was convicted of attempting to cause or incite a female child under 16 to engage in sexual activity. Dodd walked away from court without a prison sentence. He was, however, placed on the sex offenders’ register, was ordered to abide by strict conditions. He was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order, as part of which his internet use was restricted and he was banned from online and in-person contact with girls. Both orders passed down were to run for a period of 10 years, Sheffield Crown Court heard. Thomas Harris, prosecuting, told the court that Dodd breached the terms of his sentence when he lied and told police on two separate occasions - in August 2025 and February 2026 - that he was not living with his then-partner, who shared a home with a child, when he had in fact moved in with her. Dodd’s breaches were not discovered until he began sexual online communications with a profile he believed belonged to a 14-year-old girl, but was actually being run by a paedophile hunter group. Mr Harris told a hearing held on July 8, 2026 that Dodd, now aged 62, sent pictures of himself topless and in underpants to the girl. Dodd was “detained” by the group, who subsequently called the police. Jailing Dodd for 16 months, Judge Anthony Dunne told him: “I’ve read everything said in your pre-sentence report about you, your family and circumstances, but the seriousness of your behaviour, breaching both a sexual harm prevention order and sex offender notification requirements, means only a custodial sentence is appropriate.” | SYP