A man snared by paedophile hunters as he engaged in illegal online sexual chat with who he thought was a 13-year-old girl has been handed a 28-month jail term.
After 48-year-old Martin Gray was confronted by vigilantes and brought to the attention of police it emerged he had also conducted internet searches about the legal age of consent and possible penalties for breaking the law.
Officers arrested Gray at his Keswick address on January 23 last year after he was confronted by the paedophile hunters — one of whom had set up a Facebook profile pretending to be a schoolgirl aged 13.
They joined online “teen chat” and “find a friend” groups and were contacted by Gray.
He was immediately told her young age age and learned of personal difficulties and vulnerabilities.
“The defendant was kind but quickly the conversation turned sexual in nature,” prosecutor Kim Whittlestone told Carlisle Crown Court.
He tried engage the girl in sexualised chat, told her he loved her and wanted to meet up, also sent an intimate picture of himself and said he would teach her about sex. “He told her to keep it a secret,” said Miss Whittlestone.
Police later found that Gray had mocked up — and sent — images of teddy bears with the girl’s name on, and researched how to travel to and from her supposed home city.
When brought to court he admitted attempting to incite a child to engage in both sexual activity and sexual communication; attempting to cause a child to look at an image of sexual activity; and cannabis possession.
Gray was said by his barrister to be a man of extreme vulnerability who, in custody, would be about as vulnerable as it is possible to be.
But Judge David Potter, jailed him for 28 months, saying: “It is only through some good fortune that the person with whom you were communicating was an adult decoy.”
Gray, previously of Blencathra Street, Keswick, must sign the sex offenders’ register as part of strict notification requirements, and comply with the terms of a prevention order, both for 10 years.
