PERVERT WHO TRIED TO MEET '15-YEAR-OLD' FOR SEX AFTER FAKE ONLINE CHAT
A pervert who told an underage girl to "be careful" because there were some "funny people" on social media later tried to meet up with her for sexual activity, a court heard.Terence Lavelle has been sentenced to 14 months behind bars after being duped by online paedophile hunters Dark Justice.
The 50-year-old started talking to what he thought was a 15-year-old girl in October 2017 after contacting her on the social media site Qeep.
The fake profile 'Katie' informed him that she was only 15-years-old in her second message.
But after initially telling her that he was "a good guy, unlike most" and would "hate anything to happen to her", the content of Lavelle's messages quickly turned sexual.
Prosecutor Janny Haigh told the court: "Dark Justice is a voluntary organisation which created decoy profiles on social media with a view to identifying adults with a sexual interest in children.
One such profile was created in the name of Katie on the Qeep social media platform." "At 8.45pm on October 9 2017 the defendant contacted Katie saying “hi”.
She replied asking him what he was up to." "In a second message Katie informed the defendant she was 15 years of age and said she hoped he didn’t mind she’d used a fake age." "He then said he didn’t usually chat with underage girls 'because they are just after seeing pictures of private parts', introducing a sexual element to the conversation.
This was within 45 minutes of the chat commencing." "Lavelle later told Katie 'I can’t believe you’ve not seen a c***, some 15-year-olds have had them’, adding that 'if she were older he would show her one'." "The defendant mentioned she didn’t have a picture on her profile.
She then sent a picture and he responded 'I know this is wrong but I’ve got a hard-on'." "Later, it was said, he told her he had been driving in the area where he believed she lived and could have seen her." "Ms Haigh said: "The defendant suggested meeting her but suggested keeping things quiet, he was aware he could go to jail because she was underage." "He arranged to meet her where he believed she lived and asked 'are you going to suck c***'.
But he had been duped by Dark Justice, who were waiting for him when he turned up hoping to meet the youngster." "Jane Waugh defending, said Lavelle, of Welbeck Road, Walker, was "disgusted by his own behaviour".
She told the court he had worked all his life until 2013 when he was diagnosed with various illnesses." "Ms Waugh said: "He had run out of medication two days before he committed this offence and had taken two lots of medication plus alcohol."" "Lavelle pleaded guilty to attempting to meet a 15-year-old girl following sexual grooming." "Sentencing him to 14 months in prison and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years, Recorder Sophie Drake said: "You knew from the start you were conversing with a 15-year-old girl but that didn’t put you off.
"You engaged in sexually explicit language with her, you told her not to tell anyone, you knew the significance of what you were doing and that you could get into trouble.
"I accept that the remorse and the disgust you feel towards yourself is genuine."
