Hair-fetish Otley pervert wanted to take young teen girl to salon and then to bed

Richard Harris thought he was speaking with a young teenage girl, but was talking with a decoy profile set up by the online paedophile-hunter group, Confronted & Caught.

The 61-year-old from Otley made contact in June of last year, and quickly told the “girl” that he wanted to meet up, prosecutor Jonathan Sharp told Leeds Crown Court.

He the told her was in love with her and wanted her to come to Otley so he could have her hair cut short and then have sex. He told her: “I would love to be in bed with you.”

Harris asked her to send pictures of her naked, despite admitting to her that he should not be speaking with her in that way.

They agreed to meet and he turned up at Otley Bus Station, where he was confronted by four males from the hunter group, who livestreamed the confrontation.

He was heard to express remorse and said: “I should not be doing this.” He later made “frank admissions” to police who were called to the scene to arrest him.

Harris, of Bedford Place, Otley, later admitted attempting to meet a child under 16 after grooming and attempting to engage a child in sexual activity. He has no previous convictions.

Mitigating, Joseph Hudson said: “He is thoroughly ashamed and showed that from the moment he was apprehended.”

Judge Robin Mairs told Harris: “You clearly have a fetish in relation to hair length and knew the age of the girl you were talking to. You invited her to come to Otley to have her hair cut and then go to bed. You also asked her to talk dirty.

"You attempted a meeting at Otley Bus Station and you were detained by four males who saw fit to livestream it across social media.”

Judge Mairs accepted that Harris had learning difficulties. He jailed him for 24 months, suspended for 24 months and ordered him to enrol in an accredited sex offenders programme. He was given a 10-year sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) to limit his internet use, and put on the sex offenders register for 10 years.