JAMES LOADES CAUGHT IN KETTERING PLANNING SEXUAL ENCOUNTER AT DURHAM STATION

In a disturbing incident that unfolded in Durham, a known sex offender named James Loades, aged 31, was apprehended by police before he could carry out his intended meeting with a supposed 14-year-old girl at Durham Railway Station. Loades, who hails from Kettering, Northamptonshire, had traveled to Durham on March 2 with the expectation of engaging in a sexual encounter with what he believed was a minor.

According to court proceedings, Loades had sent a message to the girl, indicating his intention to visit her at her home for a “kiss and cuddle,” and inquiring whether she was a virgin. However, the court was informed that the girl Loades believed he was communicating with did not actually exist. Instead, he had been chatting with a decoy profile created online by a woman posing as a 14-year-old girl. This setup was part of an online sting designed to catch individuals attempting to engage in illegal activities with minors.

As Loades waited at Durham station, police officers, who had been alerted to his intentions, arrived on the scene and promptly arrested him. The court heard that this planned meeting occurred less than three weeks after Loades was released from a 14-month prison sentence for attempted sexual communication with a child. Following his release, Loades was placed on license on February 11 and was visited by a police public protection officer. During this visit, he was served with a copy of the Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) that restricted his contact with minors, emphasizing that he was forbidden from any interaction with underage children.

Despite these restrictions, Loades quickly resumed online conversations, engaging with what he believed were two different girls aged 14 and 13, as well as another girl whose identity remains untraceable. One of these, a girl named “Lola,” who accepted a friend request from Loades on February 25, was immediately flattered by his comments, which included remarks about her appearance in heels. Loades also offered to visit her in a hotel and asked her to perform a sex act on herself, instructing her to find a sex toy in her mother’s bedroom and sending her explicit images.

By the time of his arrest, there was no evidence that Loades had made any concrete plans to meet the girl “Lola,” but he was also messaging with another decoy named “Hannah” around the same period. In each case, the decoy girls disclosed their ages, which Loades acknowledged, claiming he was 31. During conversations with “Hannah,” Loades made inappropriate comments about girls her age engaging in sexual activity and inquired about her underwear.

Loades, who is from Kettering, Northamptonshire, admitted to multiple breaches of the Sexual Harm Prevention Order, including four counts of breaching the order, three counts of attempting to incite girls aged 13 to 15 to engage in sexual activity, and attempting to communicate sexually with a child. He also pleaded guilty to attempting to meet a girl under 16 following grooming.

Judge James Adkin addressed the court, stating, “It’s pretty obvious what his intention was being at Durham. He’s done just about everything he could to commit them, by meeting with this girl, albeit, it wasn’t a child.” The judge noted that Loades’ pre-sentence Probation Service report raised serious concerns about his entrenched behavior and his apparent inability to resist the urge to offend.

Expressing his grave concerns about the risk Loades posed to children, Judge Adkin sentenced him to five years and four months in prison, with an extended license period of three years. Additionally, Loades is required to register as a sex offender for life, and the restrictions imposed by the SHPO will remain in effect indefinitely, reflecting the ongoing threat he poses to the safety of minors.