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20
Mar
Masham man jailed after being caught by 'paedophile hunters'
A 62-year-old man has been jailed three years for lurid sex chats with what he thought were young girls – but were in fact online “paedophile hunters”.
Keith Metcalfe, from Masham, “prowled the internet” and contacted the ‘girls’ on Facebook Messenger, not realising they were three fake profiles set up by adult vigilantes posing as 14-year-old females.
Metcalfe, a married man, urged one of the ‘girls’ to perform a penetrative sex act on herself and sent her a picture of his private parts, York Crown Court heard.
Prosecutor Brooke Morrison said that Metcalfe contacted the first ‘girl’ on Facebook in the spring of 2024.
“The defendant started the conversation saying he would ‘talk sex with her but she is too young’,” added Ms Morrison.
Metcalfe then asked her if she had ever performed certain sexual acts and sent her a picture of his private parts on Facebook Messenger.
He told her he was “horny and wishing she was in bed with him”, then asked her to delete all the messages between them. He then urged her to perform lewd acts on herself in the shower.
When she told him she was going for a sleep-over with two friends, Metcalfe said he “wanted sex with all three of them”.
Ms Morrison said that Metcalfe had been having the sex chats with the ‘girl’ between Aril 22 and May 2, 2024.
It was during this same period that he contacted another fake Facebook profile which he alsobelieved was a 14-year-old girl.
He told the ‘girl’ he was a farmer and the conversation soon became sexual. She too told him she was going for a sleepover, and Metcalfe “jokingly” asked if he could join them. He also called her “babe” and a “naughty girl”.
He contacted the third ‘girl’ and asked her for a picture of herself.
“She sends this and he says she’s gorgeous,” added Ms Morrison.
Vigilantes turn up at workplace
Members of the vigilante group turned up at Metcalfe’s workplace on May 2, 2024, and called police to say they had detained him and had evidence to prove he had been trying to chat with kids online.
Police arrived to arrest Metcalfe and subsequently searched his home. They couldn’t find the offending Facebook messages, ostensibly because Metcalfe had deleted them, but they could prove that the sex chats were done on his phone and on his Facebook account.
He was charged with three counts of attempted sexual communication with a child, attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity and sending a person a photo of his genitals.
Metcalfe, of Westholme Road, appeared for sentence today (March 20) after pleading guilty to all five offences.
Ms Morrison said that Metcalfe had nine previous offences on his record including drink-driving, but nothing of a sexual nature.
His solicitor Neil Cutte said that Metcalfe was “so ashamed about what he’s done”.
He added that Metcalfe was drunk at the time of the offences and hadn’t “touched a drop of alcohol” since.
He said that Metcalfe lived in a council tenancy and was a carer for his poorly wife.
'Who knows the damage you could have done'
Judge Sean Morris told Metcalfe:
What in earth you were doing, heaven knows.
You clearly have an alcohol problem looking at your bad record for driving over the prescribed limit, and in April and May 2024, no doubt fuelled by strong cider, you prowled the internet and contacted (what you thought were) young girls.
Fortunately for you, they were not real.
The judge said the most concerning aspect of the case was Metcalfe asking one of the girls to perform a sex act on herself in the shower.
Had that been a real female, who knows the damage you could have done.
This kind of offending is far too serious to avoid an immediate (prison) sentence because other people sitting in their rooms, tap-tapping away on their keyboard, need to know you are only a few taps away from Hull Prison if you stray into the territory of young girls…and exploit their naivety and engage in sexual communications because of the damage it can cause.
Metcalfe was jailed for three years and ordered to sign on the sex-offenders’ register. He was also made subject to a sexual-harm prevention order for an indefinite period to curb his online activities.
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