Febuary 2012

Fake Facebook page of freed child groomer

A convicted paedophile who set up a Facebook account using a false name has been locked up for breaching the terms of his early release from a six-year prison sentence.

Ashley Moxon was jailed in October 2008 for grooming and sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl he met on Facebook.

Moxon, 23, was released from prison on licence last September after serving half of his sentence.

Last December Moxon set up a Facebook account using the pseudonym Harry Tomas.

He posted pictures of himself posing bare chested and boasted on one wall message: “Dam [sic] I look so sexy right now.”

This week, the father of his 12-year-old victim discovered Moxon was hiding his true identity on Facebook and alerted police.

Officers yesterday swooped at an address in Leeds to arrest Moxon and return him to prison.

The father of Moxon’s 12-year-old victim told the YEP: “I am relieved, the police and probation service have acted swiftly. Because Moxon is on Facebook using a false name I don’t think people who talk to him on there will know he is a convicted paedophile. My daughter is never going to forget what Moxon did to her. She is under the care of a psychiatrist and she has all sorts of problems.”

A police spokesman said: “A 22-year-old man has been arrested for breaching his licence conditions and is being recalled to prison.”

In October 2008 Leeds Crown Court heard Moxon used the internet to lure a 12-year-old girl into performing a sex act with him.

Moxon spent six months chatting to his victim before taking her to his home where he carried out the assault. He preyed on the girl just two week after receiving a caution for sexual activity with another girl aged just 14. A jury had earlier found him guilty of oral rape of a child under 13, assault of a child under 13 and inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity.

He was cleared of one charge of rape of a child under 13. Moxon’s lawyer said the girl told Moxon she was 14 and had consented.