ANTHONY JOHNSON CAUGHT IN LEAMINGTON TRYING TO MEET CHILD FROM LIGHTHORNE

In December 2017, a serious incident unfolded involving Anthony Johnson, a man with a troubling history of sexual offences, who was apprehended in Leamington after attempting to meet a supposed underage girl. Johnson, a resident of Verney Close, Lighthorne, was already registered on the sex offenders’ register due to previous convictions for indecent assaults on a young girl. Despite his past, he engaged in online communications with what he believed was a 14-year-old schoolgirl named Jackie, and her friend Tanya, who he thought was from Camden, London.

Johnson initiated contact through a chat site, where he exchanged highly sexual messages with the individuals he believed to be teenagers. The conversations revealed his intent to meet them for sexual activity, offering to pay each girl £40 for an afternoon that would include full intercourse. He discussed traveling arrangements, asking if Tanya had enough money for train fare, and arranged to meet at Leamington railway station on the 11.24 train.

Unbeknownst to Johnson, the girls were not real. The person posing as Tanya was an adult who later provided police with screenshots of the exchanges. The police, having been alerted, monitored the situation and confirmed Johnson’s intentions. When he arrived at Leamington station, officers promptly arrested him and informed him of the charges.

During police interviews, Johnson, who was found with £91 in cash, largely refused to answer questions, replying ‘no comment’ to most inquiries. His criminal record includes dishonesty convictions from the 1960s and 70s, and notably, a five-year prison sentence in 2003 for offences of indecent assault, which involved oral sex and digital penetration on a girl under 14.

At Warwick Crown Court, Johnson initially denied the charges of attempting to meet a child with the intent to commit a sexual offence, grooming, and breaching a sexual offences prevention order. However, on the day of his trial, he changed his plea to guilty. Prosecutor Mark Williams explained that Johnson had been subject to a sexual offences prevention order since 2010, which prohibited him from communicating or attempting to communicate with any child under 16, following his previous conviction.

Mr. Williams detailed how Johnson had engaged in online chats on July 7, with the adult posing as Tanya, and had expressed his desire to meet the girls for sexual activity. The messages included explicit content, and Johnson had sent an image of his private parts, attempting to solicit an intimate image of Jackie. The planned meeting was set for Leamington station, but the police intervened before it could occur.

When questioned, Johnson’s case was adjourned for a pre-sentence report to assess whether he remains a danger to young girls, given his criminal history. The court remanded him in custody, and the judge expressed concern over his previous convictions, indicating that custody was the only appropriate course of action at this stage.