A pervert who was caught by vigilante paedophile hunters who posed as a 14-year-old girl has been handed a suspended prison term.
Nikki Walker, 39, believed he was sending explicit messages, including pictures of himself having sex, to the girl calling herself Lucy.
But he was actually being trapped by a group calling themselves Shadow Hunters UK.
The group confronted Walker at the garage where he worked and he agreed to hand himself into a police station.
Walker, of Polesworth, Warks., admitted attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity at Warwick Crown Court on Monday (29/7).
He was sentenced to four months in prison, suspended for two years, with an 8pm to 7am curfew and ordered to do 150 hours of unpaid work.
Judge Barry Berlin said: “You have potentially a child of 14 who is groomed and taken to a meeting with someone of his age and abused, and I see the results of such meetings and abuse regularly in this court.
“The purpose of the legislation is to prevent at this early stage such matters developing into that type of thing.
“This was an attempt only because an adult member of the public from Shadow Hunters UK was pretending to be a child.
“You didn’t know that. You believed you were communicating with a 14-year-old child called Lucy.
“As soon as you were told that, you began making sexual comments. You persisted in telling her to do things to herself and to you.
“You were arrested and accepted chatting, but said she told you she was in her early 20s.
“That was clearly a lie, because in two places she tells you she is 14.
“You said you did not get sexual gratification from the conversations – that was another lie.
“Notwithstanding there was not a child, there could have been.
“You were not going to put a brake on it, you were quite willing to pursue this 14-yer-old girl, as you thought she was, further.”
Walker began communicating when the girl he believed was Lucy in November 2017 which was in fact a fake profile set up by Shadow Hunters UK.
Prosecutor Andrew Wilkins said: “The conversation began with Walker asking Lucy her age, and after she said she was 14, he began asking her for pictures, telling her he liked her t*ts.
“He then sent her images of sexual activity between adults, saying that the man in them was him, and encouraged her to perform sex acts on herself.
“As their conversations continued, Walker asked whether she would like to have sex with him, which she declined, and told her he wanted to see her naked.
“Eventually the woman posing as Lucy and other members of the group went to confront Walker at his place of work, a garage, on November 17.”
Police were called by officers did not attend so the group attempted to make a citizens’ arrest before Walker agreed to hand himself into police.
Lisa Hancox, defending, said: “Mr Walker is now aged 39, and the offence was some 20 months ago, and he has lost his business as a result.
“He is a broken gentleman who stands before Your Honour.
“He sought employment following the closure of his business, and he has now lost that employment.
“He knows all of this is his own fault, but he has already felt punishment for what he’s done.”
Unity News Network (UNN) Staff Writer | To find out more details about our staff, please head to the About Us section on our website.
