A crane operator pretended to be a widowed mother online and took part in disgusting conversations in which he fantasised about abusing children. Shaun Coates took part in graphic forum chats which he claimed to be pure fantasy.
The 59-year-old was discovered after conversations from chatroom Similar Worlds came to the attention of the National Crime Agency who referred the matter to police in south Wales. Coates had been posing as a woman online with the username HannahUK, using a picture of a woman in his profile picture.
The chats, which took place between May and July 2020, graphically discussed penetrative sexual acts with children, with the defendant claiming he had a 10-year-old son and a 12-year-old daughter. Coates and the other participant spurred each other on to carry out sexual acts on their respective fictional children.
