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04
May 2022
Harrogate online predator caught by vigilantes
A Harrogate man asked a 13-year-old ‘girl’ for nude photos during online chats, a court heard.
Thomas Fryer, 36, contacted the ‘girl’ on a messenger app, not realising he was in fact chatting with an adult decoy who was working undercover to trap online predators.
Prosecutor Ashleigh Metcalfe told York Crown Court that a vigilante group called Keeping Kids Safe was behind the sting, which ended with a “confrontation” at Fryer’s home that was live-streamed on social media.
She said the volunteer decoy – a man who was named in court – set up a fake profile purporting to be a teenage girl.
Fryer made contact under the username ‘Tom Fryer 1’. On the ‘girl’s’ profile it said she was 19 years of age, but when he contacted her, she told him she was 13 years old.
Thus began a series of debauched chats on the Oasis and KIK apps, culminating in the “confrontation” at Fryer’s home where the vigilantes called in police.
Officers arrived on the scene and seized Fryer’s iPhone, which showed messages between him and the ‘girl’, including one in which he asked her if she “goes nude” and encouraged her to take naked photos of herself. Ms Metcalfe said:
He then asked ‘her’ if she had any photos of her young friend and if this girl was sexually active.
He then asked ‘her’:
In subsequent chats, he asked for more pictures from the ‘girl’ and told ‘her’:
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Ms Metcalfe said the chats occurred over a five-day period between May 28 and June 1, 2020.
Never been in trouble before
Fryer, of Dragon Parade, was quizzed by police but remained largely silent. However, he ultimately admitted attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity and attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.
They were charged as ‘attempts’ because the ‘girl’ was in fact an adult decoy.
Robert Mochrie, mitigating, said Fryer had never been in trouble before.
Judge Simon Hickey said it was better for Fryer to get the help he needed in the community rather than any custodial sentence.
Fryer was given an 18-month community order with a 40-day rehabilitation programme. He was also ordered to carry out 80 hours’ unpaid work.
He was placed on the sex-offenders’ register for five years and made subject to a five-year sexual-harm prevention order, mainly to curb his internet activities.
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