Pervert caught by officer posing as a 13-year-old girl
A man who tried to meet up with a teenager to have sex with her has been given a suspended prison sentence.
Alexander Wilson thought he was talking online with a 13-year-old girl called Holly who he met on an adult chatroom website, it was said.
He sent naked images of himself and arranged to meet up with the ‘girl’ but it turned out he was actually chatting to a police officer, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.
The chat logs between them started on April 12 last year and became “highly sexualised”. It was plain that the 42-year-old defendant anticipated having sex with her, said Mr Paul Spratt, prosecuting.
He went on to indicate that he would arrange somewhere for them to meet and later sent her images of an Airbnb property he claimed to have booked for a day.
But on the date agreed he cancelled the arrangement because of work commitments, the court heard. He later claimed it was an act of ‘bravado’ on his part and that he had never intended to go though with it.
In the interim period, Wilson sent naked pictures of himself indulging in a sexual act, seeking images in return but he did not receive any, said Mr Spratt.
He was arrested in July and made “full and complete” admissions, indicating his preference for communicating with young girls and admitting chatting to two or three others in a sexual context.
Defending him, Mr Stephen Hamblett said Wilson was suffering from mental issues and was still affected by the death of his mother in 2009. He had self-harmed by overdosing on medication prescribed for depression and anxiety, most recently last year.
He was of previous good character, with no other convictions, and had worked as a chef for 10 years with no employment issues, the court heard.
“He presents as a man with a number of issues that need to be addressed,” said Mr Hamblett, who added that Wilson had already engaged in counselling and was also working with a foundation that dealt with this type of offending.
Judge Amjad Nawaz said he treated such cases seriously but took the defendant’s “personal frailty” into account.
Wilson, of Campbell Street, Brierley Hill, pleaded guilty to attempting to arrange the commission of a child sexual offence, attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act and attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.
He was sentenced to a total of 16 months behind bars suspended for two years and was also made the subject of a 10-year sexual harm prevention order.
