SALISBURY PAEDOPHILE GARY RICHARDS PLEADS GUILTY TO SEXUAL COMMUNICATION WITH CHILD
A PAEDOPHILE has been stung by hunters after he encouraged a girl he thought was 13 years old to masturbate.Gary Richards, of Feversham Road in Salisbury, sent sexualised messages to two decoy social media accounts between May 10 and May 17, 2022.
The 65-year-old also told a 13-year-old girl to masturbate and instructed her how to do so on May 12, 2022.
Richards found the victims on RandoChat, an anonymous chat roulette app, before further pursuing them on WhatsApp.
He did not reasonably believe the decoys were aged 16 or over.
Mr Seneviratne said Richards had "been out of trouble" since 2012, adding: "This is a paedophile hunter case." "He thought he was communicating with someone young.
The defendant carried on chatting to someone of that age in a sexual manner." Richards pleaded guilty to the three charges.
Magistrate Sarah Neish adjourned the case until July 29 for a pre-sentencing report.
