MACAULEY WEBB JAILED IN CARDIFF FOR GROOMING AND CHILD SEX OFFENCES
SERIAL NEWPORT PAEDOPHILE CAUGHT WITH CHILD ABUSE PHOTOS A serial paedophile was caught with child sex abuse photographs not long after he had been released early from an eight-year jail sentence.Macauley Webb, 29, from Newport was recalled to prison for being in breach of his licence when he was arrested last summer.
The defendant began looking for filth online around two months after he was free again in the community.
Pamela Kaiga, prosecuting, told Cardiff Crown Court how police found 11 indecent pictures of children on his mobile phone.
There were two at category A, the most serious kind, and six at category B and three at category C.
Webb admitted three counts of making an indecent photograph of a child and one count of being in breach of a sexual harm prevention order.
His offending occurred between July 24, 2025 and August 19, 2025.
The defendant has a raft of previous convictions for child sex offences.
In 2016, he was convicted of three counts of possession of an indecent photograph of a child.
A year later, he was back in court for being in breach of a sexual harm prevention order.
In October 2018, Webb admitted three counts of making an indecent of a child and being in breach of a sexual harm prevention order.
Five years ago, in July 2021, he was jailed for eight years after pleading guilty to attempting to engage in sexual activity with a child and attempting to meet a boy following sexual grooming.
The offences related to him going to a Morrisons supermarket car park in Cwmbran to meet what he believed was a 12-year-old schoolboy.
He was caught in a police sting during which an undercover officer posed as a child using a fake profile.
Gareth Williams for Webb said: “He’s had significant trauma in his life – it’s distressing to read.
“But that doesn’t give him a free pass in life.” “His barrister added: “He feels anxious and low at times and he has autism.
“It’s a complex set of circumstances.
“He’s capable of better.
“There are traits of vulnerability in his personality.
“His best mitigation is his guilty pleas which were entered at the earliest available opportunity at the magistrates’ court.” Judge Hywel James jailed Webb for 28 months.
The defendant will have to register as a sex offender for life.
—————————————————————————————————— In July 2021, Macauley Webb, aged 24, was sentenced to prison after attempting to meet a decoy posing as a 12-year-old boy.
Webb had been messaging an undercover police officer on messaging platforms Grindr and WhatsApp, pretending to be interested in starting a relationship and engaging in sexual activities.
Cardiff Crown Court heard that Webb liked a Grindr profile called 'Welsh Romeo' on May 14 and initiated contact, exchanging phone numbers with the officer, who was acting as a minor.
The court was told that Webb was informed early in their conversations that the individual was 12, nearing 13.
Despite this, Webb asked the decoy if he would be his boyfriend and if they could kiss, then inquired about performing oral sex on each other.
On May 18, Webb attempted to meet the boy in a car park at Morrisons supermarket in Cwmbran.
He was subsequently arrested by police, who seized his mobile phone.
Webb, from Gaer Vale, Newport, admitted to attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming and trying to engage in sexual activity with a minor.
Prosecutor Joshua Scouller highlighted that Webb had a prior criminal history, with 11 previous convictions for 27 offences, including possession of indecent images of children.
Judge Richard Williams described the case as a "serious escalation in your paedophilia." He stated, "I note that this was an attempt and that the child was fictional.
While that reduces the harm caused, it does not lessen the harm intended.
This represents a serious escalation in your paedophilia.
You have not been able to address your offending or sexual appetite.
You do pose a significant risk of causing serious harm." Webb was sentenced to an eight-year extended prison term, made up of four years in custody and a four-year extended license period.
Separately, in June 2021, Webb, who has been convicted three times previously, pleaded guilty to intending to meet a 12-year-old boy following sexual grooming, and to attempting to engage in sexual activity with a child.
His case was adjourned for a report to be prepared, and he appeared via video link from Parc Prison in Bridgend.
The sentencing was scheduled for July 1, with Judge Geraint Walters warning Webb, "A custodial sentence is inevitable." Webb’s criminal record includes convictions from 2016 and 2018 for possession of indecent images of children.
In December 2018, Webb, then 22, avoided jail after admitting to possessing hundreds of moving images of children.
He was under a three-year community order and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) after a 2016 conviction.
Despite a previous breach of these orders, Webb used his mobile phone to download 416 moving images, including 228 Category A images, indicating the most serious level of harm.
Police discovered that Webb had wiped his phone’s history, but later he admitted downloading the images to a support worker.
Webb explained that family difficulties and encouragement from an older family member contributed to his offending.
Judge Neil Bidder QC sentenced Webb to eight months in prison, suspended for two years, and imposed a 10-year SHPO, along with requirements to undertake 20 days of rehabilitation, 200 hours of unpaid work, and a victim surcharge of £140.
The court emphasized the serious nature of downloading such images and Webb’s prior convictions, reinforcing the need for protective measures and corrective interventions.
