Leeds predator told 12-year-old boy that he was 'sexy' and wanted to be his boyfriend

Pervert Robert Taylor turned his attention to the youngster named “James”, sending him a Facebook request in June of last year. The profile was fake and part of an undercover operation by West Yorkshire Police to trap offenders trawling the internet for victims.

Leeds Crown Court heard that 35-year-old Taylor made contact in June of last year, with the officer making it clear that “James” was just 12, to which Taylor replied “cool”.

He said he looked 18 and would act like his big brother when in public, and said he wanted to take him to a hotel for sex. He requested pictures of the boy’s genitals and suggested they meet up, telling him he did not care that he was 12.

They arranged to meet at Batley Railway Station and then check into a hotel. Taylor was met by police when he turned up at the station. He admitted what he had done and knew it was wrong, but told them he was “horny”.

He then admitted he also looked at indecent images, so a computer and hard drives were seized from his address on Naseby View, Burmantofts. They found thousands of images and videos of child abuse. This included 990 Category A – the most serious – 602 Category B, 1,951 Category C and 1,335 prohibited pictures of children. They also found six extreme pornographic photographs involving people performing sex acts on animals.

Prosecutor Ryan Donoghue said that Taylor, had no previous convictions. Appearing in court from HMP Leeds, where he is being held on remand, he admitted arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence, attempting to meet a child under 16 and attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child. He also admitted three counts of possessing indecent, possessing prohibited images of children and extreme pornographic images.

Mitigating, Andrew Coleman said: “Mercifully, there was no actual victim,” when referring to the police sting. He said that Taylor was also on the autism spectrum.

A lengthy medical report into his problems led Judge Rodney Jameson KC to adjourn his case until Monday, April 24, to digest the report and consider his sentence.