HORDEN MAN JAILED FOR TRYING TO MEET 14-YEAR-OLD GIRL AFTER ONLINE STING
A MAN in his fifties arranged to meet what he thought was a 14-year-old girl for a sexual liaison within hours of making contact on the internet.Durham Crown Court heard the profile, ‘Mags07’, received contact from Dunn at about 4.20pm on December 3 and engaged in conversation in which it was made clear she was a female, aged 14.
Annelise Haugstad, prosecuting, said he requested a photo and a profile picture was provided.
Dunn soon brought the conversation round to sexual matters and suggested the ‘girl’ could perform a sex act on him while they went for a drive.
He arranged to meet her at Mill House Leisure Centre, in Hartlepool, and travelled there between 7 and 8pm, but on his approach he had cause to be concerned as members of the Newcastle Hunters group were waiting to greet him.
Miss Haugstad told the court Dunn quickly drove away, but his details were passed on to police and he was arrested.
The 52-year-old defendant, formerly of Stockton Avenue, Horden, told police that he was intending to meet the child to warn her of the danger of talking to men on the internet.
But, appearing before magistrates, subsequently, he admitted a charge of attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming.
The case was sent to the crown court for sentencing, after a background report on Dunn by the Probation Service, the author of which considered him as a “high risk” of causing harm to children.
Dunn has 24 convictions for 65 offences on his record, but nothing previously of a sexual nature.
Dunn has been in custody since losing his accommodation and handing himself in to police.
Following a three-day adjournment to see if accommodation could be found for the defendant, the case returned to court.
The judge imposed a ten-month prison sentence as no rehabilitation work could be attempted with Dunn in the community without a stable address.
He made Dunn subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, plus notification requirements as a sex offender, both for ten years.
