July 2019

Man jailed after attempting to groom a child for sexual activity

A man who groomed what he believed was a child online has been jailed.

Andrew Mason, 23 of Grimsby appeared at Grimsby Crown Court where he pleaded guilty to:

Four counts of attempting to incite a child into sexual activity 

The court was told that Mason had contacted the online profile of someone he believed was a child 

Mason sent highly sexualised messages and images in a clear bid to groom the child for sexual activity, and went onto to arrange to meet the child.

However, the child did not exist and was instead an adult member of paedophile hunting team ‘Essex Child Protectors’ who pose online as children to catch sexual predators who target kids

The team passed the evidence over to another team who in August 2018 went to his address to confront him

However, due to the premises being a registered unit for people with learning difficulties, the team were unable to question Mason on his internet activity

A member of the team rang the police and the offender was arrested at the scene.

The judge handed Mason 12 months imprisonment

He was also placed on the sex offenders register for ten years and ordered to pay a court surcharge of £140