A paedophile asked, what he believed was, a 14-year-old schoolgirl for explicit images and called her "sexy".
Geoffrey Prince, 79, of Mount Grove, Birkenhead, was actually speaking to an online paedophile hunter group which had created a fake account of a 14-year-old girl to “ensnare” sexual offenders.
On Tuesday, Liverpool Crown Court heard that Prince asked for images of her “t*ts”, and asked her to perform a sex act. Mr Peter Hussey, prosecuting, said Prince was clearly interested in a “sexual approach” and called the girl “sexy” very early on in messages.
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The court heard how a fake profile was created on a dating app called Twoo, and an unnamed woman doctored images of herself to look like a 14-year-old girl. Prince was told early on in the correspondence that the person he was sending messages to was 14, and he in turn, told her he was 65.
The pair talked online from January to March, and the paedophile hunter screenshotted their conversations to use as evidence. She reported him to the police after two months and he was subsequently arrested.
In his interview with police, he did not deny the offence, but did say he originally thought the app Twoo, was for businesses. He pleaded guilty in November to one count of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, and one count of attempting to cause a child to engage in sexual activity.
The court heard that he has children, grandchildren and great grandchildren who have all ostracised him except for one daughter and his wife. The elderly man was also kicked out of his family home and now lives in assisted living.
Mr John Weate, defending, said Prince did not understand why he did it, but accepted it was a “highly sexualised conversation that he engaged himself in”. The court also heard that Prince is currently in remission for leukaemia, had a heart bypass in 2004, and has type 2 diabetes, as well as major problems with his kidneys and liver, which he takes daily medication for.
Prince was sentenced to 20 months in jail, and will be on the sex offenders register for ten years. He also had a sexual harm prevention order taken out against him.
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