A paedophile obsessed with children's knickers sent sick photos of a child to another pervert.
Scott Butler revealed his "depraved" sexual interests in chats with undercover police and an underage girl. The 33-year-old was then discovered to have taken indecent pictures of a girl and shared them online.
Liverpool Crown Court heard Butler blamed "stress" for his twisted behaviour, which he claimed was "escapism". But Judge Andrew Menary, QC, told him: "It's plain from all of the circumstances of this case that you have an unhealthy and inappropriate interest in sexual images of children, particularly in relation to children wearing knickers or soiled knickers."
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Butler was arrested by Cheshire Police at his Green Lane, Widnes home on October 17, 2019, on suspicion of offences that were not disclosed in open court. Officers seized his Apple iPhone SE and Lenovo laptop, before he gave a no comment interview and was released under investigation, while the devices were sent for analysis.
Nick Cockrell, prosecuting, said Butler was arrested again on March 23, 2021. That was following conversations he had on social media platform Kik Messenger, using the profile "ScottyB2388", over three days that month.
Butler had talked about the sexual abuse of children with a person he thought was a fellow paedophile, who was actually an undercover officer. Butler said he had performed a sex act over a girl and with her knickers, before he sent the officer photos of her knickers and a non-indecent photo of the child in school uniform.
Butler was arrested on suspicion of the sexual assault of this child and denied any wrongdoing in interview. A Nokia phone and Lenovo tablet were taken from him, which were also sent off for analysis.
The Nokia phone was found to contain the photo of the child in her school uniform. Police were able to identify the child, who did not disclose any sexual abuse.
Mr Cockrell said Butler was not charged with any offences in respect of those conversations. However, he said they showed Butler's "predilection for discussing the sexual abuse of children".
Police then found on the Lenovo tablet a social media app called Whisper, which Butler had used for "sexualised" chats with adults, but also someone who said they were a 14-year-old girl. Butler asked the apparent child - who was never identified by police - what underwear she wore and said he wanted to see her wearing it.
On May 27, 2021, Butler was arrested in connection with those chats, when he gave another no comment interview. He was again released under investigation.
Butler was arrested for a fourth time on September 9, 2021, after Greater Manchester Police (GMP) had contacted Cheshire Police. Mr Cockrell said GMP had arrested a paedophile who had a laptop containing a folder with the title of the name of the girl Butler had photographed in her school uniform.
In the folder were two Category C indecent images of the girl in her knickers, one in which she showed her bare bottom. The photos had been taken by Butler in October 2019 and sent to the other paedophile.
Mr Cockrell said other non-indecent images of the child were found on Butler's devices, plus "photos of soiled knickers, which had been circulated". He said Butler was further arrested and gave another no comment interview.
Butler, who had no previous convictions, admitted two counts of taking and one count of distributing indecent photographs of child, plus one count of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.
Jim Smith, defending, accepted it was a "particularly unpleasant set of offences". He said they were carried out to satisfy Butler's "unhealthy preoccupation with social media and apparent deviant interests, at a time when the defendant was suffering substantial stress and believed that such escapism was a route to some solace for him".
He said Butler, who used to work in retail and was now a warehouseman for Tesco, "deeply" regretted any impact on the child he photographed and had shown remorse. Mr Smith argued there was "a realistic prospect of rehabilitation", the Probation Service assessed Butler as a low risk of reoffending, and while he was not deemed eligible for a sex offender treatment programme, he could complete a "Maps for Change" course.
The lawyer said: "He now exercises regularly and he occupies his time doing puzzles. His work is night shift work, five days a week, and he intends and has every prospect of continuing with that employment."
Judge Menary said however "depraved" the chats with the undercover officer were, they didn't lead to any charges. However, he said they demonstrated Butler's sexual interest in children, supported by the conversations he had with the apparent 14-year-old girl.
Judge Menary said: "You asked this 14-year-old whether she wore a thong, whether in a sense it sexually excited her to wear a thong, and if she didn't, why didn't she wear her mother's underwear. All of that sort of highly sexual, highly inappropriate conversation, with somebody you believed was 14."
The judge said he was told Butler committed the offences during a "particularly stressful time", but he showed a "persistence" in continuing to offend even after he was arrested. Judge Menary jailed Butler for 16 months and told him to sign on the Sex Offenders Register and comply with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years.
Cheshire Police has refused to release Butler's mugshot, despite official guidelines stating that it should be provided to the media. Both a 2005 protocol, created in consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service, Association of Chief Police Officers, the Attorney General's Office and the media, and a 2017 College of Policing policy, agree a guilty defendant's custody photo may be released - the latter stating "unless there is a court order or legitimate policing purpose preventing their identification".
There is no court order and Cheshire Police has not cited any policing purpose for its refusal.
Anyone with information or wants to report a sexual offence is asked to call 101 where you will be spoken to by specially trained officers. Or you can pass information to Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
Support for victims is also available through the registered charity the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre Cheshire and Merseyside, who can be contacted on 01925 221 546 or 0330 363 0063 or Rape and Sexual Assault Merseyside (RASA) on 0151 558 1801. In an emergency, always call 999.
Children concerned about abuse can contact Childline 24/7 on 0800 1111. Adults concerned about the wellbeing of children can phone the NSPCC Helpline on 0808 8005000.
Anyone concerned about their own behaviour, or that of a family member, can contact stopitnow.org.uk and get-help.stopitnow.org.uk
