A paedophile was "hounded" from his home by neighbours after they found out he had been caught by paedophile hunters sending sexual messages to someone he thought was a child. He also arranged to meet the decoy at a railway station but cancelled at the last minute.
Michael Noakes, 63, of Wattsville, Caerphilly, began speaking with an account on social media and the person told him she was 12 years old and from Cardiff. It was in fact a decoy run by a member of the Dank Dragons group.
A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Wednesday heard they exchanged a number of messages in October 2021 before moving to WhatsApp. Noakes sent pictures of himself and the messages became more sexualised. Prosecutor Roger Griffiths said the defendant offered to "educate" the decoy sexually. She told him she was scared and he said he would look after her.
