Sheffield pervert trapped by paedophile hunter confessed to police he had indecent images of children

Sheffield Crown Court heard on January 10 how Paul Law, aged 59, of Brunswick Road, Burngreave, Sheffield, engaged in sexual conversations with an online profile purporting to be a 13-year-old girl, which had been set up as a decoy by a paedophile hunter group called Predator Exposure.

Stephanie Hollis, prosecuting, said a member of Predator Exposure set up a fake Facebook profile of a 13-year-old Leeds girl who was repeatedly contacted by Law and his conversation became sexual as the defendant encouraged the profile to chat by WhatsApp.

The judge – Recorder Benjamin Nolan KC – told Law: “You have admitted an offence of attempting to communicate with a child for sexual purposes. The child in question was a decoy but your messages to the decoy were many and varied as I have already observed and complex in their motivation, but ultimately – just aimed at sexual motivation.”

Ms Hollis added that the defendant tried to ingratiate himself with the decoy and his messages were manipulative and based on building-up a dependency and he had suggested travelling to Leeds to stay with the decoy and he told her he liked to cross-dress.

Law also told the profile he had feelings for her and he asked if she had wanted to have sex with him and that he was willing to pay, according to Ms Hollis.

Ms Hollis said Predator Exposure passed on the details to a member of another similar organisation and one of their members visited Law at his home, where he confessed and the police were alerted.

Law told police he was sorry and he also had indecent images of youngsters which officers later found involving children aged between five and 17-years-old, along with 21 images of extreme pornography, when they seized two mobile phones.

The defendant, who has previous convictions, pleaded guilty to attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child from September to October, 2020.

He also admitted three counts of making indecent images of children from October, 2019, to October, 2020, relating to 19 category A images, ten category B images and three category C images, with category A being the most serious.

Sean Fritchley, defending, said Law has struggled with a difficult personal background that has blighted his life and this has turned him to drugs and alcohol.

Mr Fritchley added that Law was ‘brutally honest and frank to his own detriment’ after the police had visited his home.

Recorder Nolan said: “I am impressed by the fact you volunteered the presence of indecent images on your phone before one phone was examined forensically – although it would no doubt have been discovered before you had the good sense to volunteer it.”

He sentenced Law to 18 months of custody suspended for two years with a Rehabilitation Activity Requirement. Law was also made subject to a ten-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.