LAW enforcement officers and even organised groups of ordinary citizens work to bring paedophiles to justice by posing as young children online.
Since the start of July, we have reported on four offenders who faced crown court judges after they were snared in online stings.
Each of them thought they were engaging in a sexually-charged conversation with a young child.
In reality they were talking to adults committed to stopping them from harming real children.
Here are their stories.
Deano Lisney
Deano Lisney, 52, told police he was “trying to help” a 12-year-old boy after he was caught in an undercover sting sending sexually-charged messages to an officer posing as a child.
He denied he gained any gratification from the sick messages he sent to a person he believed to be a young boy named James.
From October 18 last year, Lisney chatted over social media with a police officer posing as a 12 year old.
In an opening message to Lisney, the officer indicated the fake boy’s age.
Lisney said the boy “didn’t look 12 judging by his profile picture”.
The court heard the conversation unfolded over the course of around two weeks, “starting innocuously”.
Richard Burrington, prosecuting at Chelmsford Crown Court, said: “The defendant wheeled it round to matters of a sexual nature fairly swiftly.”
Lisney was traced through his social media profile and arrested.
In interview, he confirmed he had a conversation with James and said he recalled his age, even adding he was “a nice young lad”.
But he said he “would never have taken it any further” and said he was “literally just chatting”.
Mr Burrington said: “In terms of his motivation, he said there was no sexual gratification gained through this conversation - he was not sexually aroused by the suggestions he was making of James and in his words the defendant said he thought he was just ‘helping him’.”
Lisney, of Fletchers Caravan Park, St Osyth, admitted one count of attempting to cause or incite a child to engage in sexual activity.
Steven Levy, mitigating, said his client has no previous convictions and had admitted the charge at the earliest opportunity.
Describing the case as “an unusual situation”, Mr Levy said: “Normally they are paedophile hunter groups who in effect post the profile and undertake to basically lie dormant until someone actually makes contact.
“This is actually a police operation.”
He added: “This is a case whilst it is serious, it ends very quickly, there’s no suggestion of meeting.”
Judge Christopher Morgan said: “It is in my judgement on the facts plain - you had some sexual interest and that you may have derived some sexual gratification from it.”
Lisney was sentenced to three years imprisonment and will be subject to indefinite notification requirements and a sexual harm prevention order.
Denis Turner
Denis Turner, 29, was filmed on his doorstep by paedophile hunters as he labelled his “relentless” online pursuit of a 13-year-old girl as “just a bit of fun”.
He thought he was engaged in a six-week-long sex chat with a young girl.
In fact he was talking to a member of the Child Online Safety Team, which had set up a decoy social media profile to snare paedophiles.
Chelmsford Crown Court heard Turner asked the decoy “if she would be a bad girl” and repeatedly warned her not to tell her parents about their conversation.
Gary Rutter, prosecuting, said: “He would regularly ask her if her parents knew she was talking to him and would suggest on numerous occasions that she delete the inbox so she didn’t get told off.”
Questions about her school, her brothers and her sisters were interspersed with requests for her to “play with herself”.
He said: “I bet you have a little bum”, adding: “If I were there, would you let me slap your bum?”
Turner also sent pictures of his genitals to the decoy.
The paedophile hunters visited Turner at his Colchester home following the conversation, which unfolded from June to July 2019.
The confrontation was filmed and posted on Facebook, with Turner saying “it was just a bit of fun”.
Turner, now of Ibstock Close, Dagenham, was arrested and later admitted one count of attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity.
The case faced significant delay, in part due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and he appeared for sentence on Thursday.
Peter Clark, mitigating, said Turner had endured difficulties in life, but added they did not excuse his offending.
He said his client cares for his 72-year-old father, who is awaiting open heart surgery.
Mr Clark said Turner had remained out of trouble in the three years since the offence, adding: “This is a case where there is a prospect of rehabilitation.”
Judge Mary Loram QC said: “Your pursuit of sexual conversation with a child was relentless.
“Your focus was purely on getting sexual images from her, sending her sexual images of yourself and trying to get her to masturbate. You paid no heed at all to the clear evidence and repeated protestations of total sexual naivety from the child.”
Turner was sentenced to 27 months imprisonment and ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register for ten years.
Daniel Potts
Daniel Potts, 29, sent sexually explicit messages and pictures to an undercover officer posing as a 12-year-old girl.
He was caught in a “classic undercover officer sting” as he sent twisted messages to a decoy.
Chelmsford Crown Court heard he sent her explicit pictures of himself and tried to “teach her to masturbate”.
Jerry Hayes, prosecuting, said: “The defendant made it very clear repeatedly that he wanted to meet with her and engage in sexual activity. He asked for a naked picture of her.”
Potts, of Blackthorn Avenue, Colchester, was arrested late last year, making admissions in police interview before admitting the charges against him.
He admitted attempted sexual communication with a child, attempting to cause a child to engage in sexual activity and attempting to cause a child to watch sexual activity.
Annie Fraser, mitigating, said her client is “deeply ashamed” to be in the dock of a crown court for the first time.
“He’s a man who’s never been in any trouble at all,” she said.
“He has a very good work record, he’s always worked in his family business.”
Ms Fraser said Potts suffered with anxiety and depression, but had “shown a willingness” to address his mental health issues.
“His grandparents have brought him to court today and he’s obviously very distressed he’s had to inflict this on them as well,” she said.
She called on Judge Timothy Walker to suspend any prison sentence in order to give Potts the chance to work with the probation service.
“He has a great deal of remorse about this, he is very keen to seek treatment to make sure nothing of this nature ever happens again,” she said.
But Judge Walker said only a sentence of immediate imprisonment would do, adding the facts “clearly indicated” Potts had a sexual interest in children.
“Your incitement involved repeated communications with a child, who you thought was only 12 years of age,” he said.
“You sent various photographs and videos of yourself masturbating, thinking that a 12-yearold would be seeing those.”
Potts was jailed for 32 months, will be subject to a ten-year sexual harm prevention order, and will remain on the sex offenders register for life.
Richard Pickford
A father who was caught engaging in a sexually-charged conversation with a decoy posing as a 12-year-old girl was also found to be a part of a group chat which encouraged dads to share pictures of their daughters.
Shamed Richard Pickford, 44, said his actions were “madness which defied all logic” when he was interviewed after his arrest in August last year.
The father-of-two, of Dorchester End, Colchester, contacted a child profile online, engaging in a month-long chat.
He thought he was chatting with a 12-year-old girl named Tilly, but in reality he was sending sick messages to a law enforcement officer.
Chelmsford Crown Court heard after his arrest, police found group chats on an application on his iPhone.
Dingle Clark, prosecuting, said: “One of which had the rules of the group, which said you had to share images of your daughter and if you didn’t do so, you would be removed from the group.”
Indecent images of children were also found on the phone, with one video depicting the sexual abuse of a child.
Judge David Turner QC said four images at the most serious Category A were found, alongside one Category A video.
Images at Category B and Category C were also uncovered.
Judge Turner said: “To my mind, the ugly feature of that is this was a ‘Kik’ application, for people committed to producing material involving their daughters.
“That is, in my judgement, a particularly despicable angle.”
Pickford admitted attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity, attempted sexual communication with a child and three counts of possessing indecent images of children.
Judge Turner added: “This is a shameful day for you and a distressing day for your family.”
The court heard Pickford had already taken steps to seek help to address his offending and had expressed “some genuine remorse”.
Pickford was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months.
He must complete a programme for internet-based sex offenders, 180 hours of unpaid work, a 15-day rehabilitation activity requirement and £340 in prosecution costs.
He will sign the sex offender’s register for ten years and will remain subject to a ten-year sexual harm prevention order.
Editor's note: We unable to source a picture of Pickford from Essex Police as he did not receive an immediate prison term totalling 12 months or more.
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