'I can't believe I've been so stupid' - Paedophile caught red-handed trying to meet a child in a Wakefield car park

Carl Mardel, of no fixed abode, used a dating app to message what he thought were two girls aged 12 and 14 earlier this year.

After graphic discussions of sex with the two profiles, he attempted to meet one of the girls in a car park in Wakefield.

But little did Mardel know, these were decoy profiles run by a paedophile hunter group, and he was quickly arrested by West Yorkshire Police officers, who have today welcomed his prison sentence.

A sentencing hearing at Leeds Crown Court heard Mardel was using a mobile dating app earlier this year.

The paedophile hunter group set up two decoy profiles on the app – claiming to be a 12-year-old girl and a 14-year-old girl.

Mardel messaged the supposed 12-year-old for two months, asking intimate details about her body and explaining sexual intercourse to her.

The decoy 14-year-old profile was messaged by Mardel in October, where he once again asked intimate details about the victim and suggested meeting up for sex.

Mardel went to meet who he thought was the girl in a car park in Pontefract before being arrested by the police on October 20 this year.

During his arrest, Mardel said: “I can’t believe I have been so stupid. I have ruined my life and my wife and daughter’s life.”

The court heard how the defendant was previously imprisoned back in 2000 for the violent rape of a 15-year-old girl, and was only removed from the sex offenders’ register in 2019.

Mardel had pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to meet a girl under 16, and two counts of sexual communication with children.

Mitigating for Mardel, James Littlehales told the court: “He is determined to deal with his offending behaviour.

"I accept there is a substantial way to go.

"He is determined to use the custodial sentence usefully and to address his offending behaviour.

"The acknowledgement that he has ruined his life shows he understands the seriousness of what he has done.”

Recorder Mark McKone sentenced Mardel to two years and eight months in prison, with an extended licence period of six years. Mardel was issued with a sexual harm prevention order and will remain on the sex offenders register for life.

Rec McKone told Mardel: “You were in extensive contact with two decoys pretending to be girls aged 12 and 14.”

DS Ben Howley of the Kirklees Police Online Investigation Team, said: “Mardel is a committed sexual offender and we welcome the sentence imposed by the court today.

“He had every intention of committing serious sexual offences against what he thought was an under age female following conversations online, but is now instead facing a spell in prison.

“Online child sexual offending is treated incredibly seriously by West Yorkshire Police with all offences thoroughly investigated.

“More information about spotting the signs of online grooming and sexual offending can be found on the West Yorkshire Police website”