Police release picture of a Paedophile who was snared in South Yorkshire by online decoys pretending to be girls

A paedophile who was trapped by online decoy profiles pretending to be young girls has been put behind bars.
By Jon Cooper
Published 22nd Feb 2022, 12:42 BST
Updated 23rd Feb 2022, 09:59 BST
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

Sheffield Crown Court heard on February 21 how Wesley Booth, aged 41, had been attempting to communicate sexually online with the decoy profiles in Rotherham and he had attempted to meet them before he was arrested by police.

Recorder David Kelly told Booth: “It involves you attempting to arrange for you to have sexual relationships with two girls who you believed were 13.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"In fact, they were not. It was a decoy seeking to capture people such as you who communicate over the internet with 13-year-old girls before you can do any harm.”

Pictured is Wesley Booth, aged 41, of Alan Moss Road, Loughborough, who was sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court to 32 months of custody after he admitted: two counts of attempting to communicate sexually with a girl aged under 13; two counts of attempted sexual grooming of a girl aged under 13; two counts of attempting to arrange or facilitate sexual activity with a girl aged 13; and three counts of making indecent images of children relating to categories A, B and C.Pictured is Wesley Booth, aged 41, of Alan Moss Road, Loughborough, who was sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court to 32 months of custody after he admitted: two counts of attempting to communicate sexually with a girl aged under 13; two counts of attempted sexual grooming of a girl aged under 13; two counts of attempting to arrange or facilitate sexual activity with a girl aged 13; and three counts of making indecent images of children relating to categories A, B and C.
Pictured is Wesley Booth, aged 41, of Alan Moss Road, Loughborough, who was sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court to 32 months of custody after he admitted: two counts of attempting to communicate sexually with a girl aged under 13; two counts of attempted sexual grooming of a girl aged under 13; two counts of attempting to arrange or facilitate sexual activity with a girl aged 13; and three counts of making indecent images of children relating to categories A, B and C.

Booth, of Alan Moss Road, Loughborough, who has no previous convictions, pleaded guilty in respect of the two decoy profiles, to two counts of attempting to communicate sexually with a girl, two counts of attempting sexual grooming with a girl, and to two counts of attempting to arrange or facilitate a sexual activity with a girl all dating from December, 2018.

The defendant also admitted three counts of making indecent images of children after he was found to have category A, B and C indecent images of youngsters, with category A being the most serious.

Andrew Bailey, prosecuting, said: “As far as he was concerned he was going to meet two 13-year-old girls and he had taken some pills to assist him in attempting to get an erection.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Chris Aspinall, defending, said Booth admitted the most serious offences over three years ago and there has been a significant delay in bringing the case to a conclusion.

He added: “He has gone through a tortuous process in the last two or three years. I am not minimising the offences in themselves but the effect on this man who has never been in the justice system before has been traumatic.”

Mr Aspinall also said Booth is at the low end of the intellectual scale and while he was at school he was considered to have special needs.

The court heard that since these crimes took place there has been been no further offending by the defendant.

Recorder Kelly sentenced Booth to 32 months of custody and the defendant was made subject to the Sex Offenders Register and to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for life.