'Lonely' Leeds paedophile who asked 13-year-old about sex given 'one last chance'

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A convicted padoephile previously jailed for child sex offences tried to claim he was “lonely” when he was caught chatting up a 13-year-old girl online.

Michael Lord was banned from using social media after his previous convictions, but twice latched onto the supposed girl last year on the dating app, Fast Meet.

He twice used a false name and asked the girl if she had a boyfriend and if she “did anything with him” and “slept with him”, Leeds Crown Court heard.

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The profile was run by an undercover police officer looking to catch out predatory perverts trawling the internet.

Lord first contacted the profile in October last year, then again weeks later under a different name. The decoy made it clear she was only 13 from the outset, prosecutor Emily Jenkins said.

Lord was caught talking to an underage police officer online who was posing as a 13-year-old girl. (pics by National World)Lord was caught talking to an underage police officer online who was posing as a 13-year-old girl. (pics by National World)
Lord was caught talking to an underage police officer online who was posing as a 13-year-old girl. (pics by National World) | National World

Despite the name change, the same IP address was used and later traced to Lord’s home where he was arrested on December 21 last year.

During his police interview, the 42-year-old admitted responsibility for the two chats and breaching the sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) he received from his previous conviction.

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He had conducted the online conversations on a tablet he had not told police about, which put him in breach again. He told officers that he had been lonely and turned to online chat apps for company.

Lord said the site was for over 18s and that the supposed girl should not have been on there. In total, he admitted two counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, and four breaches of his SHPO.

Mitigating, Ryan Donoghue said Lord, of Raylands Way, Middleton, had split up from his partner shortly before committing the first offence. He said they had discussed having children and spending their lives together.

He reiterated that unemployed Lord had been lonely, but conceded it did not excuse his behaviour.

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Judge Mushtaq Khokhar told Lord that he still had an interest in children, but said he would give him “one more chance”.

He told him: “It does not appear that your interest in children has come to an end. I do not accept the excuse that you were feeling lonely and decided to go to his website.

“These urges you can’t resist have to be controlled because this is your last chance. The next time it happens, you go to custody again for a long period of time.

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“To all intents and purposes, you thought you were talking to a 13-year-old girl.”

He gave him an 18-month jail sentence, suspended for two years. He also ordered him to enrol on a sexual offender programme, gave him 55 rehabilitation days and 250 hours of unpaid word.

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