A depraved paedophile sent shocking messages to what he believed to be 11, 12 and 13-year old girls. However, they were actually adult decoys from a local vigilante group, who hunt down perverts, and the North West Organised Crime Squad, reports Manchester Evening News.
Across various social media platforms, James Barber, 56, groomed and chatted to the ‘girls’ for a number of days and told them he was looking for "young, sexy girls." He told the decoys that he "liked innocence" and added that "young girls just make me excited" before he was eventually arrested at a nursery in Altrincham where he worked as a cook.
The sick beast, of no fixed abode, also sent indecent images of himself to the ‘children’. At Manchester Crown Court yesterday,he admitted making indecent images of children after a number of vile pictures were found on his phone.
Barber also admitted to attempting to engage in sexualised conversations with children and attempting to cause a child to watch sexual activity, and was handed a suspended sentence by the judge. Prosecutor Tom Challinor said that in May 2021, the North West Regional Organised Crime Squad deployed one of its trained officers to pose as a 12-year-old girl and chat to Barber.
Between May 18 and July 1, the pervert spoke to the girl on ‘Fast Chat’, with her initially telling him she was 12. Mr Challinor said: “He proceeded to attempt to groom her and engaged in sexual conversations, telling her he liked ‘young, sexy girls’. He said he wanted to touch her bottom and cuddle her and look at one another naked.”
During the chats Barber also said he wanted to take the 'girl' somewhere private and then sent images of himself. On July 12, he was arrested at the nursery in Altrincham. Officers found a number of indecent images on his phone, including 18 category A pictures, described as the worst type.
Barber was then released on bail, but continued offending and next caught the attention of the group, Children’s Innocence Matterz. Using another chat website, he began speaking to a ‘child’, who was actually a member of the group.
On November 26 last year, the girl, purporting to be a 14-year-old, was speaking with Barber, who told her: “I just wanted a young girl.” The decoy asked ‘what age do you want’, to which he replied: “12/13 is nice.”
The conversation continued, with the decoy mentioning she had a sister who was seven-years-old, in which Barber said he ‘hoped’ he could talk to her. The decoy then asked if Barber wanted to speak to her 10-year-old friend, he replied: “Yes please, I’d like to chat.”
Then on November 18, a different decoy from the same group began chatting to Barber, posing as an 11-year-old girl. “He told her ‘I like young girls’, said she was very pretty and gorgeous and asked if she had any sexy photos,” the prosecutor continued.
In a number of chats between November 29 and December 1, Barber was asked by the decoy why he was interested in little girls. He replied: “I don’t know, I just like little girls. Young girls just make me excited. I like [the] look, I like innocence, I like [a] good body, it just turns me on, it’s very hard to explain.”
Then in a further chat with a ‘13-year-old girl’, he said: “Little girls are nice. I worry because I like young.” Barber was again arrested on December 2, and gave a no comment in his police interview. He was said to have no previous convictions.
Barber had already spent five months in custody and the judge, Recorder Andrew Long, and Barber’s barrister Graham Rishton spoke briefly about this. “In cases of such seriousness, custody can only be justified but I can suspend the sentence and the defendant can carry out a more constructive sentence,” the judge said, and his barrister agreed.
Sentencing, Recorder Long said: “These unhealthy proclivities led to your first appearance at this court and a first taste of custody. Unless you face up to these proclivities and rely on the assistance of the probation, it is likely you will be back here and serving longer sentences.”
Barber, was given a 20 month prison sentence, was suspended for two years, and ordered to complete 20 days of rehabilitation activity requirements and undertake a programme designed to assistmedium to high risk sex offenders.
He was also handed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years and must sign onto the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years.
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