A vile predator travelled to Newcastle in the hope of meeting up with someone he thought was a 14 year old girl — and then said he would ‘keep her for five days’.
Binis Varghese, 38, did not go through with his rendezvous, after chatting with ‘Paige’ online for several weeks. Varghese, a father and husband living on Townsley Grove in Ashton, contacted the profile on social media site Scout.
Initially, Paige - who was actually the invention of so-called paedophile hunter group Child Online Safety Team - listed her age online as 18. However, after the two exchanged pleasantries, she revealed she was actually only 14 years of age on October 1 last year.
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Despite knowing the profile was that of a child, Varghese - who appeared in court with an interpreter, having only moved to the UK two months before the offending began - continued to have ‘inappropriate’ conversations with her, Minshull Street Crown Court heard today (September 8). Prosecutor Jamie Baxter told the court: “They moved off [Scout] and exchanged phone numbers and began conversing on WhatsApp.
“He enquired if she would like to meet a man. He sent pictures of himself that were not sexual. Two days later, the conversation continues and he expresses his hope that he can meet her.
“He enquiries if she is 18 and she says she is 14, and he replied ‘nice, it is very nice to meet you’. He then says he would like to meet up with her.”
From there, Mr Baxter told Recorder Abigail Hudson, the conversation became more explicit in nature. He added: “He said I really want to meet you in Newcastle. She said ‘I have never met a man’, and the defendant said ‘will you like me?’
“He said he would keep her for five days and cook together. There was a slow build up from general inappropriate chit-chat, to meeting up, and sexual conversation. He said ‘I will teach you how to kiss and kiss your lips’.
“He fantasises about kissing her neck and chest. He then asked whether she is wearing a bra and what size it is. He then asks if she will show her bra to him.”
However, Varghese’s actions and messages did not end there. On November 20, 2021, there was more sexual conversation, Mr Baxter continued.
“Just before 8pm he said he was coming to Newcastle and that he wanted to see her and that he likes her lips and her bra and inside her bra,” he said. “He then describes her [breasts] and nipples and wanting to kiss under her underwear. He then asked her to delete those messages.”
Shortly after, he said he would stop talking to her and Varghese was arrested on November 22 in Newcastle, after the paedophile hunter group waited for him outside the Crown Plaza hotel in the city and confronted him.
Defending was Mr Mark Harper. He said his client was engaging in a ‘fantasy’. He added: “He was not working at the time and he was passing the time. It was a fantasy.
“That’s the reality. While there are suggestions of a meeting, it was never realistic.”
Recorder Hudson accepted that the meeting never happened because of Varghese’s ‘own choice’. Sentencing him to a community order, she said: “I accept that she provided the catalyst for more sexual conversation - referring to her being in her bed - but you took her lead.
“I further accept that although you agreed to meet up, you did not go through with that plan by your own choice. You had only been in the UK for two months when you began talking to Paige.
“You have considerable education and you are more than capable of coping well and being a valuable member of the community. The harm you caused was thankfully relatively minimal as Paige does not exist. I accept this was all fantasy.”
Judge Hudson handed Varghese, of Townsley Grove, Ashton-under-Lyne, a 24 month community order for sexual communications with a child, and he must complete the Horizon rehabilitation programme. She did not impose an unpaid work requirement, but did fine him £25, and ensure he will sign the sex offenders register for five years.
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