Sutton pervert groomed 13-year-old girl and collected indecent images of distressed kids being abused
A Sutton pervert who groomed what he thought was a 13-year-old girl also possessed indecent images of distressed children being abused, a court has heard.
Paul Radford began talking about sex within minutes of learning an undercover police decoy’s “age” on the dating app “Meet 24,” in June last year, said Abigail Hill, prosecuting.
The following day, Radford, 50, who claimed to be 34-years-old and from Cheshire, described various sexual acts before sending pictures of himself naked in the bath, and of his genitals.
When police arrested him on July 11, they uncovered indecent images of children on his devices, including one depicting the rape of a girl, aged six to eight, with tears in her eyes.
A separate set of sexualised chats with another police decoy on the Session platform at around the same time were also revealed.
Other messages showed his interest in having sex with girls as young as nine and 10, and discussions about raping children, Ms Hill added.
Nottingham Crown Court heard Radford received a 19-month suspended prison sentence in 2020.
David Watts, mitigating, said: “Like many defendants who appear in this court he presents as a fairly lonely individual who allowed his fantasy life to creep into the real world.
"He was role playing with another adult. He has clearly allowed that fantasy to go into areas where it shouldn't have gone.”
The "very small number of images" were sent unsolicited by someone else who he was chatting with and he wasn't aware they were still on his computer, Mr Watts added.
Radford, of Institute Street, Sutton, admitted possessing indecent pictures of children and attempted sexual communication with a child when he appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court, on July 29.
“I do not accept for one minute that you just happened on those images,” Recorder Adrian Langdale KC told him on Tuesday. “You had an internet search history of looking for young girls.
"You have an unhealthy and deep-rooted interest in female children which you are minimizing and needs to be stopped for society's benefit, if not yours."
Radford received an 18 month sentence, suspended for two years, with a programme and 30 rehabilitation days.
A ten-year sexual harm prevention order was imposed and he must sign the sex offenders’ register.