A cyber creep told a "14-year-old girl" they'd have to wait until she was 18 to go out on a date otherwise people would "think he's a paedo" - only to then send her a naked selfie and ask for a topless photo.
David James Merrill, 41, of Daffodil Close, Widnes, offered to pay the supposed teenager - really an adult decoy - to see what he called her “beautiful boobs”, Liverpool Crown Court heard as he appeared for sentence on Monday. Merrill had previously pleaded guilty at the first opportunity on August 23 to one count of attempted sexual communication with a child under 16 in connection with the exchange of messages.
Christopher Hopkins, prosecuting on Monday, said Merrill came to the attention of the authorities on March 13 last year when police received a call from the group “Fleetwood Enforcers” to say Merrill had been speaking to an adult purporting to be a 14-year-old girl online. The chat logs ran from November 30 to March 11, with the sexual communications from February into March.
