March 2017

Yeovil paedophile caught by police officer posing as 12-year-old girl

A paedophile who thought he was encouraging a 12-year-old girl to have sex has been caught in an undercover police operation.

The 54 year old carpenter, who had been married for 30 years, thought he was chatting to a pre-teen online, but he was actually communicating to a police officer.

He also collected hundreds of images of child abuse, featuring children as young as two.

Keith Locke of Longmead, Yeovil, avoided a prison sentenced after he had his jail term suspended when he appeared in court

Locke admitted one charge of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and a charge of making 124 images of a child in the most serious category A on September 30, 2015, and well as two more similar offences involving 120 category B images and 351 category C images.

Prosecuting, Alistair Haggerty told Taunton Crown Court that Locke had targeted what he believed was a 12-year-old girl in an online chatroom.

He was actually talking to an undercover police officer.

“Almost immediately the talk was sexual,” Mr Haggerty said.

Locke asked a number of questions about the girl’s sexual experience and asked what her bra size was.

He continued to communicate with her in the chatroom and emailed her, encouraging her to touch herself, and suggesting he could give help with her sex education.

He also encouraged her to have sex with a boy while he watched.

When he was arrested by police, they seized a number of computers and mobile phones and discovered images showing children as young as two being abused.

“There were also a number of other search terms that showed an interest in bestiality, incest and very young children,” Mr Haggerty said.

“He’d also searched the internet for ways to hide and change his IP address.”

Sentencing Locke, Judge Ticehurst snapped: “This has been a horrific experience for you? What do you think it was like for the two-year-old you watched being abused?”

He added: “You decided to talk to someone you thought was 12-years-old. You thought you were speaking to a 12-year-old and you were getting sexual gratification from it.

“How on earth do you explain something like that to your wife of 30 years? You should be disgusted with yourself.”

He sentenced Locke to 12 months in prison for attempting to incite a child into sexual activity, 18 months in prison for the Category A images, nine months in prison for the Category B images and six months in prison for the Category C images.

The sentence was suspended for two years to allow him to continue his work with the Lucy Faithfull Foundation.

He was also made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years, ordered to sign the sex offenders register for the same period of time, and told to pay £550 in costs.