Ludlow paedophile thought he was talking to girl, 14, in lewd chat from Valentine's Day
A "horny" paedophile was caught out by online vigilantes after sending lewd messages to what he thought was a 14-year-old girl.
Darren Marsh, aged 43, thought he was messaging a girl called Beth after meeting on an app called Fast Meet when he was living in Ludlow.
But he was actually messaging a decoy profile, set up by a woman from the Child Online Safety Team UK, a vigilante group with more than 76,000 followers on Facebook.
Shrewsbury Crown Court was told that Marsh initiated the conversation on Valentine's Day last year, saying "Hi" and that he liked 'Beth's' profile picture. Throughout the conversation, 'Beth' told him she was 14.
In the days that followed, Marsh made the chat "overtly sexual", telling 'Beth' she had "nice legs, seriously very sexy".
He told her that she was "beautiful" and that he had woken up "horny". He told her he needed to pleasure himself, and recommended she do the same while in the bath.
