'Wow OK so only 12 now' - Dangerous pervert caught in South Yorkshire

James Buntain was “hoping to achieve full-on sexual intercourse” when he began grooming a police decoy before the meeting in Pinfold, Wath Upon Dearne, on November 7, 2019.

In a chatroom under the name "James UK" he said: "Wow OK so only 12 now," when the decoy revealed her "true age," prosecutor Ian Goldsack said on Wednesday.

A separate police operation discovered Buntain had also been grooming another decoy, aged 13, in online forums, from September 18, 2019.

Analysis of his computer revealed he communicated with a real 13-year-old girl, Mr Goldsack said, but police were unable to trace her.

His mobile phone showed he had accessed porn websites, breaching a Sex Offences Prevention Order, made in April 2008, when he was convicted of grooming and possessing child porn.

Vanessa Saxton, mitigating, said: "He is a person who will work with the probation services going forward.”

She said the "trigger" for his previous offending was his deteriorating marriage, but his wife of 25 years had now left him.

"He accepts that he poses a serious risk," Ms Saxton, said, adding that "where the child is fictional" the sentence must reflect "that specific lack of harm."

Buntain, 57, of Wellbrae Close, Upton, Wirral, Merseyside, pleaded guilty to three counts of attempted communication with a child, three counts of inciting sexual activity with a child, attempting to meet a child under the age of 16, and breach of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order.

The court heard he only entered the pleas after a trial, set for May this year, was postponed.

Judge David Dixon told him: "You have an unhealthy and unnatural interest in young girls.

"That you have learned nothing from the Northumbria Sex Offender course is extremely worrying.

"There is an incredibly high risk that you will carry out sexual offences towards young female children. Your continued attempts to get access to them means you are a danger."

The judge imposed an extended sentence of eleven years and nine months, which means Buntain will not be released until he has served two thirds and has satisfied a parole board it is safe to do so.

Read the latest cases from Sheffield Crown Court here.

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