Paedophile caught in online sting jailed

A paedophile caught in an online sting where he thought he was sending sexual messages to a 14-year-old girl has been jailed for three years.

Nathaniel Morley, 26, invited the "girl" to commit a sex act, not realising he was talking to online paedophile hunters, Teesside Crown Court heard.

After his arrest, police found dozens of indecent images on his phone featuring children as young as eight.

Morley, of no fixed abode but understood to be from the Middlesbrough area, admitted five offences including attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity and making indecent images of children.

Morley first contacted the decoy account on a dating website called Sweetmeet on 6 June 2023 with the message "hi beauty," prosecutor Ian West said.

The "girl" told him she was 14 and he asked her if his age, 24 at the time, bothered her, the court heard.

Messages turned sexual and on 15 July he suggested she perform a sex act on herself, Mr West said.

Morley was confronted at his home by members of the Child Online Safety Team, the group which ran the decoy profile, with police then turning up to arrest him, the court heard.

A search of his mobile phone unearthed 41 indecent images of children, including 14 in the most serious category showing children being raped by adults.

In mitigation, Paul Newcombe said Morley had had a "sad childhood" in which he had been the victim of child sexual abuse.

Appearing via video link from HMP Durham, Morley told the court he had been exposed to sexual abuse since the age of four and developed a pornography addiction at 13.

Morley said he deeply regretted his actions and would endeavour to be a changed man, adding: "I've ruined my life once, I'm never going to find myself doing it again."

Recorder Andrew Smith said people had different views about the actions of such online paedophile hunting groups but their argument was the internet was a "dangerous place" for children, which they helped police tackle.

He said the group did "nothing unfair" in Morley's case and Morley knew he should not have been sending such messages to what he thought was a child.

Recorder Smith said Morley was also "part and parcel" of the trade in indecent images of children and the actions of paedophiles like him encouraged further abuse of children.

He said he was "genuinely sympathetic" with the "awful behaviour" Morley had been a victim of as a child but the primary concern was to "protect children going forward".

The judge said it was "very clear" Morley was "aware of the problem" and was "very eager" to tackle it.

Morley was also made subject to a sexual harm prevention order and must sign the sex offenders register for life.

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