December 2016

Jail term for Facebook paedophile

kirk

The jailing of a Sutton-in-Ashfield paedophile for asking underage girls to perform sex acts online has led to a warning to parents to make sure they know what their children are doing on the internet.

Michael Kirk, 44, approached 12 victims aged between 13 and 15 from Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Northern Ireland, South Yorkshire and Lancashire over Facebook, messaging them and asking them to commit indecent acts – sometimes pretending to be a young boy himself.

Kirk, formerly of Willowbridge Court in the town, was sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court on December 9, to four years and eight months imprisonment for 10 counts of attempting to incite girls to engage in sexual activity.

He had pleaded guilty to the offences on November 3.

He was first arrested in June but bailed and then re-arrested on September 1 after five other police forces contacted Nottinghamshire Police confirming he had approached young girls in their areas.

Kirk denied his involvement throughout the investigation but eventually pleaded guilty due to the strength of evidence against him.

As well as the prison sentence, he was placed on the sexual offenders register for life and received a sexual harm prevention order for life. He was also barred from interacting with children.