STEETON MAN AVOIDS JAIL AFTER SENDING FACEBOOK MESSAGES TO DECOY GIRL
A MAN who used 'language from another age' as he asked a decoy teenage girl to court him has avoided jail.It was revealed that 150 pages of Facebook messages showed David Feather, of Forge View in Steeton with Eastburn, wanted to have sex and marry 14-year-old 'Ella Mae Young'.
The court heard that Feather created a secret group with the decoy where he provided his home address.
Prosecuting, Verity Barnes stated Feather received a Facebook friend request from the decoy, controlled by an online child activist group, in September 2022.
He called the decoy an "attractive young lady" in some messages, while others described her as "good looking", "sexy", and "beautiful".
Feather asked if she liked men and suggested he wanted to put a ring on it and court her, with intentions to meet her and for her to become his girlfriend.
Requests for "sexy photographs in bed" were also made.
The court heard how he wanted to have sex, kiss, and cuddle her.
After providing his home address to the decoy, Feather was confronted by the activist group on October 2, and arrested by police a day later.
The messages were downloaded and Feather admitted to sending them but insisted he was not attracted to children.
The judge was shocked by the number of messages he sent—150 pages in 11 days—and remarked, "There is more to this case than simply paedophilia." His lawyer argued Feather was of good character, unemployed, suffering loneliness, with limited academic and social abilities, which was evidenced by his willingness to share his address.
The judge countered that at some point Feather knew his actions were wrong, and emphasized that the internet is not a tool for lonely men.
Feather was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for two years, with 20 days of rehabilitation activity and 200 hours of unpaid work.
He was also handed a sexual harm prevention order and placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years.
The judge concluded by stating, "You are not getting away with this Feather."
