January 2020

 Pervert sent on sex offenders course

A pervert has been sent on a sex offenders course after being trapped by two paedophile hunting groups twice in the space of ten days.

Dale Woolner was arrested after arranging to meet one 14-year-old girl and did exactly the same thing with another girl as soon as he was released under investigation.

On each occasion the girls who he was chatting to online were not real. They were both decoy profiles set up in internet chat rooms by two different paedophile hunting groups.

He engaged in highly sexualised chats with the two girls in which he asked them their bra sizes, fantasised about engaging in sex acts, and asked for naked pictures.

The final sting was set up by the by the South Devon based group Totnes Justice which included the UK database. A member posed as the girl during mobile phone chats in which he set up a meeting in Sidwell Street, Exeter.

He gave the decoy a description of himself which enabled the group to intercept him and film his attempts to explain his behaviour. The police were called and this time he was kept in custody.

The stings were carried out by Totnes Justice, the North West Hebephile Hunting Group, joined by activists from the South West based UK Database group.

Woolner, aged 43, of Eton Drive, Exeter, admitted arranging or facilitating a child sex offence; attempting to incite a child to sexual activity and attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming.

He was ordered to complete a sex offenders treatment programme and ten days of rehabilitation activities under a three year community order by Judge Peter Johnson at Exeter Crown Court.

He was put on the sex offenders register for five years and made subject of a five-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order which restricts his contact with children and allows the police to monitor his use of the internet.

He told him he was not sending him to prison because of his autism and the fact that he has already been held on remand since his arrest in October

He said:”You contacted two adult decoys who you thought were 14-year-old girls and indicated in increasingly graphic terms what you wished to do with them sexually when you finally met.

“One of most significant aggravating features of this case is that having been arrested and released under investigation, you went on to do exactly the same thing.

Miss Holly Rust, prosecuting, said Woolner made contact with the first decoy Emily Mae in late September and arranged to meet her at a station in Exeter on October 12 last year.

He did not turn up for the rendez-vous but was confronted at his home by the paedophile hunters, leading to his first arrest.

He had already made contact with the second decoy Sophie and resumed it two days after being released by police on October 14. He arranged to meet her on October 22.

He became more cautious after his arrest and insisted on arranging the rendez-vous by phone, giving a description of what he was wearing and saying he walked with a crutch

When the decoy posing as Sophie reminded him she was only 14, he replied ‘nice age, you are a sexy little chick’, and asked her to wear a bikini when they met. He asked her to keep their contact a secret.

November 2019

Groomer trapped by two different internet ‘paedophile hunting’ groups

A pervert has admitted trying to groom and meet under age girls after being trapped by two different paedophile hunting groups.

Dale Woolner was already being investigated for the first attempt to chat up a teenager when he fell for a second sting by the South Devon based group Totnes Justice.

He was filmed by members of three groups as he arrived to meet what he thought would be a 14-year-old girl who had travelled 200 miles to Exeter to have sex with him.

He was intercepted outside John Lewis in Sidwell Street after giving the decoy who was posing as the girl details of where he would be and what he would be wearing. He even told her that he walked with a crutch.

Woolner was trapped by Totnes Justice and the North West Hebephile Hunting group when he made contact with decoys posing as 14-year-old girls last month.

He was confronted for the first time on October 15, when evidence was passed to the police. He made contact with another decoy again and was stung for a second time.

Members of Totnes Justice and the NWHHG were joined by activists from the UK Database and filmed a 13 minute confrontation outside John Lewis in Exeter on the evening of October 22.

He was expecting to meet a 14-year-old girl called Emily and it was clear from the messages he had sent her over the previous eight days that he expected them to have full sex.

Woolner, aged 43, of Eton Drive, Exeter, admitted arranging or facilitating a child sex offence and attempting to incite a child to sexual activity between September 30 and October 15.

He also admitted attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming on October 22. The charge specifies that he made contact with ‘Emily’ on at least two occasions and intended to have penetrative sex with her.

Judge Timothy Rose adjourned sentence until next month and remanded Woolner in custody. He warned him that all options, including immediate imprisonment, remain open.