'FAMILY MAN' CAUGHT BY PAEDOPHILE HUNTERS AFTER TRYING TO MEET GIRL, 13, FOR SEX
A man was captured by paedophile hunters and forcibly held down after he tried to meet what he believed was a 13-year-old girl for sexual purposes.Patrick Malone arranged a meeting through WhatsApp with a girl he thought was young, but upon arrival at the meeting point, members of a paedophile hunting group confronted him.
Authorities were called, resulting in his arrest.
Investigations later revealed that Malone had been communicating with several individuals he thought were underage girls, during which he shared explicit images of himself and pornographic videos.
His sexual offenses were presented in court, leading to his sentencing at Lincoln Crown Court.
Prosecutor Michael Cranmer-Brown outlined that Malone had conversations with girls he believed to be aged between 12 and 14, which were actually with groups dedicated to catching online predators.
His downfall was traced back to 2018 when he first contacted a girl he thought was named Katie.
Mr Cranmer-Brown stated: "The defendant is 34 years old and a family man.
He told Katie he was 20 years old.
She told him she was 13.
"He gave her his phone number and asked for naked photos.
He sent a naked picture of his penis to her.
"He said he would send her a video of sex and then sent her another video showing a female masturbating." 'Katie' then said she was traveling from Cardiff to Lincoln to see her aunt, to which Malone responded he wanted to meet and expressed his interest in having sex with her.
They scheduled to meet at Washingborough Church.
Members of the ‘Keeping Kids Safe’ group arrived at the location at the designated time.
Malone was detained by the group, leading to a citizen's arrest, with police subsequently involved.” Police examined his device and discovered additional WhatsApp conversations with other individuals he believed were teenagers, though these were actually members of other paedophile hunting units.
In total, Malone had communicated with eight supposed minors.
He, aged 34 and living in Lincoln, admitted multiple charges including attempting to make contact with a child for sexual reasons, multiple counts of attempting to induce sexual activity, attempting to promote sexual exploitation, and attempting to cause a child to watch sexual acts.
He was sentenced to nearly three years in prison and will remain on the sex offenders register permanently.
An indefinite sexual harm prevention order was also issued against him.
