Paedophile electrician from Pontefract jailed for refusing to accept attraction to 12-year-old
A plumber who tried to groom a 12-year-old girl on Facebook has been jailed after a report found he still denies a sexual attraction to children.
The judge at Leeds Crown Court said Simon Firth’s refusal to co-operate meant there was little work that could be done with him, so sent him into custody.
This was despite the 48-year-old pleading guilty to attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and attempting to incite a child into sexual activity.
The court heard that he latched onto the Facebook profile of a supposed 12-year-old girl in January 2023, telling her she was “stunning”, despite informing him of her age.
The profile had been set up by the online paedophile-catching group, Yorkshire Predator Hunters, who seek to draw out online perverts trying to groom children.
Firth continued to pay compliments, telling her she was “perfect and gorgeous”, but over a few days the comments became sexually explicit, prosecutor Joseph Bell said.
He told her how she should masturbate, asking her repeatedly to touch herself and said he wanted to be there with her.
Days later the hunter group livestreamed a confrontation with Firth at his home. He was later arrested.
Firth, of The Hawthorns, Pontefract, has nine previous convictions for 13 offences, but none for sexual offences.
Mitigating, Temitayo Dasaolu said: “These offences appear to be out of character, there is nothing on his record that is remotely similar.”
She said Firth has a problem with alcohol and suffered with ill health.
She described him as a “sad and isolated man” who “struggles with everyday life”.
She said he separated from his wife in 2015 and “appears to have gone on a downward spiral”.
Judge Anesh Pema told Firth: “What might have happened if she was a real 12-year-old girl does not bear thinking about.
“There was clearly grooming behaviour used and a significant disparity of age.”
But Judge Pema said due to a report into his attitudes, and his unwillingness to accept his sexual attraction, he jailed him for 20 months. He was also given a 10-year sexual harm prevention order (SHPO).