LESLEY HOLT SENTENCED IN NEWCASTLE FOR CHILD SEX OFFENCES AND POSSESSION OF CHILD-SIZED DOLL
In February 2019, convicted paedophile Leslie Holt, of Moorsley Road, Houghton, was sentenced after engaging in illegal conversations and possessing indecent images and a child-sized sex doll.Holt had boasted online about having an 11-year-old 'girlfriend' and had kept a child-sized sex doll at his home.
His house was raided following a police investigation triggered by his exchange of explicit messages with paedophile hunters Dark Justice, who posed as a 13-year-old girl on a dating website last February.
During the online chats, Holt discussed 'sexy underwear,' claimed to have previously brought young girls back to his house to show them underwear, and expressed a desire to meet the girl, suggesting she could stay at his house and they could have sex.
However, the meeting was ultimately canceled.
When police executed a search warrant at Holt’s residence, they discovered the alleged sex doll, female underwear, and 36 images of child abuse on his electronic devices.
Further evidence included a conversation with a decoy set up by another paedophile hunters group, where Holt made sickening boasts to someone he believed was a 13-year-old girl named Sammy.
Prosecutor Paul Cleasby told the court: 'He told Sammy he had previously kissed a six-year-old girl and had a girlfriend aged 11, who would skip school and come to his house wearing stockings.' Holt also asked the decoy if they could meet and inquired whether she would 'bring her eight-year-old friend along.' Prosecutors noted that it was unclear if Holt’s boasts about his contact with children were truthful.
Holt pleaded guilty to attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity, attempting to meet a child following grooming, and possessing indecent photographs of children.
Judge Edward Bindloss sentenced him to 13 months in prison, with a requirement to sign the sex offenders register and adhere to a sexual harm prevention order for ten years.
The judge also ordered the destruction of the child sex doll and the indecent images.
In addressing Holt, Judge Bindloss remarked: 'It may be you don’t understand the harm that can be caused by these sorts of offences, but you are quite capable of using the skills necessary to commit them.' The judge also highlighted the impact on Holt’s family, stating: 'You are the cause of that.
Had you lived a law-abiding life, your family would not be affected in the way they say they have.'
