Pervert intercepted by paedophile hunters at Wakefield Co-op trying to meet 13-year-old boy for sex

David Brown was on his way to what he thought was the youngster’s grandmother’s house in Outwood, Wakefield, when he was intercepted.

The 36-year-old began communicating online with the boy in January 2022 on the gay dating app, Surge. But the boy was a decoy profile run by the hunter group, looking to snare predators.

He asked for the boy’s number so they could continue to communicate over WhatsApp. He sent photos of himself in the bath and said he wanted the boy in there with him, prosecutor Charlotte Noddings told Leeds Crown Court.

He also asked the boy for naked pictures, talked about masturbation and said he wanted to meet him, arranging to travel to the youngster’s grandmother’s home. Brown, of Sandringham Avenue, Knottingley, was then stopped by the hunter group at the Co-op in Outwood, on February 1, 2022, close to where the bogus boy said his grandmother lived.

When the police arrived to arrest him, he told them: “I f***** up.” He then gave a no-comment police interview.

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He later admitted attempting to meet a child following grooming and attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child. He has no previous convictions.

Mitigating, Samreen Akhtar said: “He now acknowledges the gravity of his actions and expresses remorse.”

She said his marriage had broken down and there was an “acrimonious” divorce, after which he “turned to the darker corners of the world wide web”.

She added: “He accepts he is the architect of his own downfall.”

Judge Richard Mansell KC jailed Brown for 12 months, put him on the sex offender register for 10 years and gave him a 10-year sexual harm prevention order to curb his internet use.