Paedophile former West Yorkshire Police constable Michael Conlon back in prison after admitting sex offence relating to eight-year-old child

A judge has ordered for a report to be prepared to consider if Michael Conlon should be classed as a dangerous offender as it is the second time he has been convicted of child sex offending.

Conlon, from Leeds, pleaded guilty to a charge of arranging or facilitating commission of a child sex offence when he appeared before Leeds Crown Court yesterday (December 21).

The particulars of the offence are that, between October 31 and November 21, 2021, he intentionally arranged or facilitated an act which he intended to do in any part of the world, which would involve the commission of an offence under the Sexual Offences Act 2003, namely sexual activity with a child aged eight years old.

It is understood that the offending relates to him being arrested following an undercover police operation.

Conlon, a former West Yorkshire Police officer, was jailed in 2009 for attempting to engage in sexual activity with a child, attempting to meet a girl under 16 after sexual grooming and making and possessing indecent photographs of children.

The defendant appeared before the court via a video link from HMP Leeds.

The 46-year-old, of Newton Grove, Chapeltown, spoke only to confirm his name and enter a guilty plea to the charge during a brief hearing.

Judge Simon Phillips QC adjourned sentencing to allow for a Probation Service report to consider the risk he poses to children in the future.

The judge said the report was necessary due to Conlon's previous convictions.

Conlon is expected to be sentenced on January 31 next year.

He was returned to custody after the hearing.

The YEP reported in 2009 how Conlon was jailed for two and a half years for trying to groom a teenage girl over the internet.

He was a serving policeman when he was exposed as a paedophile by a colleague masquerading as a 14-year-old girl in an internet chat room.

Conlon, then aged 33, believed he was grooming a schoolgirl for sex, Leeds Crown Court heard.

Read more:Leeds child rapist preyed on 11-year-old girl in woodland after contacting her on Snapchat and meeting her from school

But the Killingbeck-based constable was actually sending sick messages and sexual webcam footage of himself to a female officer from the Metropolitan Police.

Conlon contacted her ‘Shelley 14’ profile on chat website FaceParty numerous times over a six-month period.

He called himself ‘Wingnut79’ and ‘Man in uniform69.’

Conlon asked if she was a virgin and said he wanted her phone number and naked pictures after she told him she was aged 14.

He also arranged to meet a genuine 15-year-old girl he wanted to have sex with.

Conlon, an officer for five years before his arrest, turned up for the meeting in Knaresborough but she did not.

Kevin Jones, prosecuting, said: “He told her he was a police officer and it was that information that made her feel safe in having contact with him.”

When police raided his then home in Primrose Hill Drive, Swillington, in August 2008 they found 370 depraved pictures and videos.

The images of girls as young as five being abused had been downloaded to his computer over a three-year period.

Paul Greaney, for Conlon, said: “This defendant has ruined his life. He has lost his career as a police officer.”

Jailing Conlon, The Recorder of Leeds, Judge Peter Collier QC told him: “It’s aggravated because you used the fact you were a police officer to build some measure of trust.”

Conlon was also placed on the sex offender register for life.