Rotherham man snared by paedophile hunting group after posing posed as teenage girl online

A Rotherham man who posed as a teenage girl online has been jailed for two years after being snared by a paedophile-hunting group.
Nathan ArmitageNathan Armitage
Nathan Armitage

Nathan Armitage, aged 30 and formerly of Osberton Street, Rawmarsh, was locked up after pleading guilty to inciting sexual activity with a teenage girl.

CRIME: Man’s body found in Sheffield woodlandHe also admitted a series of attempted breaches of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order imposed in 2015, which banned him from contacting children.

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POLICE: Man shot outside Sheffield pub remains in hospitalHe befriended the girl and began to send increasingly sexualised content, culminating in him asking his victim to send him explicit images. Armitage contacted a number of individuals online, whom he thought were girls aged between 12 and 14-years-old, but who were actually members of a paedophile-hunting group. PC Brett Thompson, of South Yorkshire Police, said: “Armitage’s crimes demonstrate his cunning – he planned how he would approach vulnerable teenage girls online, duping them into believing they were talking to a peer, before his true motives became clear and the sexually explicit conversations began. “Despite being subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, which gave him specific conditions about not interacting or having unsupervised contact with female children under 16, Armitage continued to behave in a predatory and devious manner. “The victim in this case has demonstrated incredible bravery to engage with the police investigation and criminal justice process.

“Understandably, she finds it difficult to talk about what happened and the impact on her life, and I commend her for her courage and her strength.”