Paedophile snared by police while trying to meet ‘girl’ for sex in Nottinghamshire pub
A Nottinghamshire paedophile who tried to groom a child online and arrange to meet up for sex has been locked up.
Alexander Hall sent a stream of explicit messages to someone he’d started talking to in a chatroom.
Despite the person making it clear to Hall they were 14, that didn’t stop the 48-year-old’s sexual advances.
Unbeknownst to Hall, he was in fact interacting with a decoy account set up by an online child activist group.
Oblivious to this, he continued to send increasingly sexualised messages to the “girl” over a nine-month period.
This carried on until July 2024, when Hall suggested the two of them should meet up at a Nottinghamshire pub.
Believing he’d convinced the underage girl to have sex with him, the paedophile made his way to the location, as arranged.
He was instead met by Nottinghamshire Police officers, who had been tipped off about Hall’s actions and were waiting to arrest him.
Hall was charged with attempting to meet a girl under 16 following grooming and attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.
Having pleaded guilty to both charges, he attended Nottingham Crown Court to be sentenced on Wednesday (8 October).
Hall, of New Street, South Normanton, Derbyshire, was duly sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison.
He was also made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order until further notice.
Detective Constable Jack Stout, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “Hall may have been engaging in sexual communications with an adult using a decoy account, but he didn’t know that.
“In his head, the explicit things he’d sent were to a 14-year-old girl and all for his own sick sexual gratification.
“These messages and Hall’s campaign of grooming continued for several months, at which point he arranged a meeting so he could make his depraved fantasies happen.
“Thankfully, the person he was talking to wasn’t who he thought, while he was instead met by waiting police officers and arrested.
“We’re pleased to see Hall’s been sent to prison and made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order, so we can protect children from him when he’s released from custody.”