Police release picture of a jailed Sheffield sex offender who was trapped online by police pretending to be a 12-year-old girl

Sheffield Crown Court heard on September 14 how Cameron Blair, aged 27, of Whitehouse Lane, Upperthorpe, Sheffield, struck up a sexual conversation with the decoy telling the contact she could earn money for sex.

Katherine Robinson, prosecuting, said Blair told the decoy he could teach her to masturbate and he requested naked pictures of her and told her she was sexy.

Ms Robinson added police also found a text message sent by Blair to an escort agency asking to meet someone aged under 16.

Blair pleaded guilty to attempting to have sexual communication with a child, attempting to cause a child to engage in sexual activity and to attempting to arrange the commission of a child sex offence.

The court heard the defendant had also breached a community order with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order which had previously been imposed in June 2019, for engaging in sexual communication with a child and for battery dating back to August 2018, in Chapeltown, Sheffield.

Ms Robinson said that matter had involved a 12-year-old girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, who Blair had approached and led to a path before asking her if she liked getting drunk and having sex.

Blair grabbed this complainant by the arm as she tried to get back to her friends, according to Ms Robinson, but she kicked him and ran away.

Chris Aspinall, defending, said that when Blair was originally sentenced with a community order the Horizon rehabilitation programme was not available and he added that Blair’s latest offences had been attempts.

Judge Michael Slater told Blair: “Within six months of the order being made by the court you were committing the four offences on this indictment for which you fall to be sentenced for today.

“At the heart is the offence in count two where you engaged in sexual communication over the internet with someone believed to be a 12-year-old girl but was in fact an undercover police officer.”

Judge Slater pointed out that a psychiatric report indicated Blair poses a significant risk to young girls.

He sentenced Blair to four years of custody and extended the defendant’s Sexual Harm Prevention Order by five years.