Paranoid Wakefield paedophile wanted assurances online decoy girl was real
A predator who latched onto the fake profile of a 13-year-old girl repeatedly asked for proof that she was real.
But the profile Steven Hobson targeted was set up by a paedophile hunter group, Child Online Safety Team.
The 31-year-old paedophile was spared custody at Leeds Crown Court having admitted attempting to engage in sexual communications with a child and attempting to engage a child into sexual activity.
He had sent a friend request to the profile of the supposed schoolgirl in May 2024, and despite making her age clear, he asked for pictures of her legs and face for “fun”.
He said he wanted to make sure she was real. He sent her a picture of his legs and groin while clothed.
Hobson also asked her about her underwear and was “persistent in getting her to call him”, prosecutor Gurjot Kaur told the court.
He continued to ask her for voice notes, again to confirm she was a genuine child.
The police were later contacted and went to his home address on Peacock Avenue, Wakefield.
They found him being detained by the paedophile hunter group who had confronted him.
Arrested, Hobson then gave a no-comment interview.
Little mitigation was offered after Judge Christopher Batty said he would not lock him up.
But his barrister, Eleanor Durdy, said Hobson had previously suffered a head injury and claimed he could not remember speaking with the profile.
Hobson, now of Station Road, Wainfleet, Lincolnshire, was handed an 18-month community order and 30 rehabilitation days with probation.
He was put on the sex offender register for five years, while a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO), to monitor his internet use, will be finalised at a later date.