Bilston paedophile, 39, is caught in online dating sting
A Bilston man trying to lure a girl he believed to be 13 years old for sex was caught after being set up by a group of paedophile hunters, a judge heard.
They planted a decoy account on the Oasis dating site which is intended to be used by the over 18s, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.
A photo of a 13-year-old was used on the person’s profile page and the person posing as the child made it clear that was the age of the female whom Dean Humphries believed he had made computer contact with.
That did not deter the 39-year-old who later admitted being excited by the prospect of having sex with a young virgin, it was said.
Humphries arranged to meet the person near McDonald’s in Bilston on April 6, said Mr Neil Ahuja, prosecuting, but he was met by the paedophile hunters.
He tried to make a run for it but was detained until the police arrived to arrest him, added Mr Ahuja.
Grooming
Mr David Swinnerton, defending, said: “He accepts what he did and hates the fact that he did it.’”
Humphries, of Dawson Square, had 11 previous convictions but none was for sex offences.
He pleaded guilty to attempting to meet an underage girl for sex after grooming and was given a 15-month prison term suspended for two years, during which he must complete the sex offender rehabilitation programme.
Humphries was put on the sex offender register for ten years and made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for the same length of time.
Judge Dean Kershaw told him: “I believe there is a realistic opportunity of you being rehabilitated.”
