Facebook pervert trapped by undercover grandmother
A woman assumed the Facebook identity of her 11-year-old granddaughter to trap a pervert who was grooming the child on the internet, a judge was told.
She made the move after discovering the pair had been in contact through the site's private messenger, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.
She disclosed her concerns to an acquaintance who admitted he was worried about contact between a 14-year-old relative and a man. Checks found that 36-year-old Robert Hadley was the culprit in both cases, said Mr David Bennett, prosecuting.
All but two of Hadley's 40 Facebook 'friends' were young girls, the court heard.
The grandmother accessed the account of the 11-year-old and posed as her to contact Hadley in February last year. During the internet conversation that followed he asked for a photograph of the child wearing a bra – but both requests were rejected.
Instead he was sent a snap of the girl in her soccer kit instead and sent a lewd image of himself in return before warning that he would get into 'a lot of trouble' if she did not keep their communications secret.
The woman maintained the pretence until February 25 when she contacted police after Hadley tried to arrange a meeting with the girl he assumed was exchanging messages and pictures with him.
He had also tried to launch a relationship with the 14-year-old, ignoring her comments that she was too young, the court heard.
Police swooped to arrest Hadley the day after being alerted by the grandmother but discovered he had destroyed the SIM cards on his two mobile phones shortly before they arrived.
He claimed to have done this the previous day because he 'knew what he had been doing was wrong,' said Mr Simon Hanns, defending, who added: "He was ashamed and filled with remorse."
But Mr Hanns conceded that the defendant – who had lied about his age to the girls –had displayed elements of grooming during the Facebook conversations. Mr Hanns added: "He got involved in this while living a solitary life after the break up of his own relationship."
Hadley from Netherbry Road, Sedgley admitted four charges of trying to incite under age girls to engage in sexual activity on various dates between December 24 2014 and February 26 2015.
Judge James Burbidge QC jailed him for three years.
