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David Huntley

'Devious' Peterlee pervert thought he was having sexual chats with vulnerable 13-year-old girl

Poppy Peterlee WhatsApp

A "devious" pervert believed he was having sexual chats online with a vulnerable 13-year-old girl but was in fact messaging an adult decoy.

Stephen Swan began messaging what he thought was an underage girl called Poppy on a chat app called Waplog in April with the 63-year-old's messages soon turning sexual. The chats then moved over to WhatsApp, but what Swan didn't know, was that he was actually speaking to an adult decoy from a group called the Child Online Safety Team.

Durham Crown Court heard on Friday that Swan spoke to the decoy about "skinny-dipping" and believed the girl was "socially isolated" and had "few friends". There was also said to be a "degree of manipulation" in the chats before Swan was arrested.

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