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15
Oct
Boroughbridge man, 66, who sent 'girl' online sex messages avoids jail
A 66-year-old man who had lurid online sex chats with what he believed to be a 13-year-old girl has been spared prison.
Paul Brook, from Boroughbridge, urged the ‘girl’ to perform lewd acts on herself during gratuitously sexual chats on social media, York Crown Court heard.
Unbeknown to him, he was in fact chatting to an adult decoy from an online vigilante group which patrolled the internet to snare paedophiles.
Following his arrest, Brook, of Mill Lane, dismissed the sex chats as “harmless fun” and told officers he preferred younger women because those his age were “wrinkly, grey and fat”.
Prosecutor Kelly Clarke said:
Police were made aware of the offences by a vigilante group targeting paedophiles.
An adult decoy set a “trap” by posing as a 13-year-old girl on the Hi5 app on which the conversations started in early November 2023.
Ms Clarke added:
The conversation moved to Whatsapp and during the messaging, the decoy told (Brook) she was just 13.
The chats soon became sexual and Brook sent the ‘girl’ a message saying: “I’m so horny for you now darling.”
In other messages, he “instructed” her to perform intimate acts on herself, said the prosecutor.
The chats lasted until February 2024 when Brook was arrested and brought in for questioning. He told officers he knew the ‘girl’ was 13 years’ old and that it was just “harmless fun”.
Ms Clarke added:
He said his preference was 18-to-35-year-olds because the women his age were wrinkly, grey and fat.
When asked if he would have continued the chats if he hadn’t been arrested, he replied: “Yeah, probably.”
When shown some of the messages, he said he knew it was wrong, but he was “seeing how far he could push it”.
Brook was charged with attempted sexual communication with a child and attempting to incite an under-age girl to engage in sexual activity. The offences were charged as attempts because he had been conversing with an adult decoy.
He admitted the offences and appeared for sentence today (October 15).
Ms Clarke said that Brook had three previous convictions for six offences but nothing for sexual matters. His last offence was taking a vehicle without consent in 1985.
‘Very serious trouble’
His defence barrister Michael Collins was spared the need for mitigation when Recorder Dafydd Enoch KC said he would not be sending Brook to jail.
Mr Enoch told Brook:
I don’t know what possessed you to start indulging in this kind of activity at your age, but you did, and as a result you find yourself in very serious trouble and you could very easily have gone immediately to jail.
He noted, however, that Brook had no track record for similar behaviour and had mental-health issues which “may have caused you to act out of character and foolishly”.
Mr Enoch added:
These offences are so serious that only a custodial sentence can be appropriate.
He added, however, that he could suspend the sentence because of mitigatory factors including the fact that the ‘girl’ was an adult decoy.
Brook’s 18-month jail sentence was suspended for two years. He was also made subject to a 10-year sexual-harm prevention order and will sign on the sex-offenders’ register.
He was also ordered to complete 25 rehabilitation-activity days.
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