GEORGE SELMER

YARM MAN CAUGHT SHARING SEXUAL FANTASIES WITH POLICE DECOY

A convicted sex offender named George Selmer, aged 45, from Yarm, shared sexually explicit messages with a girl he believed to be 13 years old.

The messages included depraved sexual fantasies, and he attempted to persuade the girl to perform a sex act on herself over a period of three days.

It later emerged that the girl was actually a police decoy, and the entire communication was monitored by the authorities.

Selmer claimed that his conduct was just fantasy and that he never intended to carry out any acts, saying he was in a 'dark hole'.

The police recovered copies of the conversation from his digital devices, which contained sexually explicit content with the underage girl.

He pleaded guilty to attempting to incite a girl aged 13 to 15 to engage in sexual activity and attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, with these incidents taking place between November 17 and 19 of the previous year.

At Middlesbrough Crown Court, Judge Paul Watson KC sentenced Selmer to two years imprisonment, suspended for two years, and imposed a requirement to attend 30 days of rehabilitation activities and 200 hours of unpaid work.

Additionally, Selmer was placed under a three-year sexual harm prevention order.

The court was told that Selmer had entered into a dark zone of behavior and had sought help to address his issues, but he had nonetheless engaged in highly inappropriate communications believing them to be with a young girl.