CONNAH'S QUAY SEX OFFENDER CAUGHT BY 'VIGILANTE GROUP'
A man who carried out sexualised online conversations with someone he believed to be a young girl has been jailed.David Griffiths, of Leighton Court in Connah's Quay, appeared for sentence at Mold Crown Court on Wednesday.
The 76-year-old had previously admitted offences of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act and making an indecent image of a child.
Emmalyne Downing, prosecuting, told the court Griffiths' offending came to light as a result of a group seeking to stop online predators.
The group held a 'decoy' account on Facebook, presenting as a young girl.
Griffiths, using the pseudonym 'Penny Price', made contact with that profile in February 2023 by adding the 'girl' as a friend.
He was told immediately that he was speaking to a 13-year-old, but he responded by saying she was "good looking." Over the course of some 11 months, Griffiths spoke with the girl and sent her selfies, as well as 'talking about cross-dressing.' He went on to edit a photo to make it appear he and the girl were together, following which the conversations began to take on sexual overtones.
Griffiths told the girl he wanted "to talk about sex and things," before sending her a photo of himself in a basque.
He then sent her a sexualised image of herself which he'd made, believed by police to have been created using AI, and went on to send her a photo of himself dressed in stockings with his genitals exposed.
Additionally, he sent two videos depicting sex acts.
On January 4 last year, the group operating the decoy account confronted Griffiths and live-streamed their interaction with him online.
His arrest followed and when interviewed, he accepted having messaged the girl, but denied the messages were sexual in nature.
At his second interview, he claimed not to be the person talking to her.
Ms Downing told the court the defendant had six previous convictions for 13 offences, completely different in nature, and the last one on his record dated back to 1979.
Oliver King, defending, told the court his client's pre-sentence report didn't "do him any favours." He added: "Your Honour will know from the attitudes expressed by Mr Griffiths, it's not unusual in this type of case to say these things - no one readily admits, certainly to a stranger, having a sexual interest in children.
Perhaps more so for a man of his generation." "I ask the court to accept his apparent minimisation and denial in the report don't equate with a lack of willingness to engage with probation and get help.
It's driven by shame and embarrassment, in my submission." The defendant was jailed for nine months and made subject to notification requirements as a sex offender for 10 years, with a sexual harm prevention order for the same period.
