TRIMDON MAN JAILED FOR ONLINE SEXUAL MESSAGING WITH MINORS
John Carruthers was jailed for sexual messaging online with what he thought were underage girls, having used an innocent younger man's profile to make the initial contact.The deception put the blameless man at significant risk of being wrongly exposed as a paedophile and changed his life forever, Durham Crown Court heard.
Carruthers had actually been sending his filthy messages to an adult decoy posing online as the supposed 13 and 14-year-old girls, but he was using the profile picture of a much younger man in the original posting.
When the group gathered sufficient evidence to confront Carruthers before contacting the police, they initially believed the man on the profile picture was responsible.
Following further investigation, it emerged that Carruthers was responsible for the contact with the decoy and the use of the younger man’s profile picture.
This resulted in Carruthers being responsible for messaging with a profile picture of an innocent man, which falsely cast him as a paedophile.
He admitted three offences of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, which took place between February and May last year using two accounts featuring the innocent man’s profile picture.
His crude messages quickly became highly sexualised, including sending images of his genitalia and requesting images from the decoy girls.
The court heard a victim statement from the wrongly accused man, who said Carruthers’ activities had “changed his life forever.” He explained that he was able to convince the vigilante group of his innocence, preventing wrongful police investigation that could have cost him his job and marriage.
Carruthers’ previous good character was noted, but he was described as being in “almost complete denial” of his activities, and he struggled to come to terms with what he had done.
The court was told that based on a probation report, Carruthers was not in the best health, using crutches and experiencing mental health issues.
Recorder Mark Giuliani sentenced Carruthers, imposing a 16-month prison term, and also ordered him to be subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and notification requirements as a sex offender for 20 years.
