Perverted Fulwood pensioner snared by paedophile vigilantes after trying to lure 'girls', 13, into sex chats
A Fulwood perverted pensioner was snared by paedophile vigilantes after trying to lure 13-year-old girls into sex chats online, Preston Crown Court was told.
Michael Webb, 73, admitted four offences which included telling one child he wanted to marry her. He told another he wanted to be her first sexual partner.
Webb, who lives in a retirement complex, was sentenced to more than three years in prison and made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for the rest of his life.
A judge was told he was confronted by paedophile hunters outside his home in The Filberts, close to Cadley Causeway.
The vigilante group had carried out a sting after he made contact with a decoy planted in a chat group online who was an adult posing as a 13-year-old girl.
They then monitored how he tried to have sexual conversations with two other young girls on Facebook – both of them 13 years old.
The group brought in the police and Webb was arrested. He subsequently pleaded guilty to one charge of attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity and three of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.
Judge Darren Preston heard that the hunter group set up an account under the name of Blossom, presenting as a 13-year-old.
Webb first made contact with her in 2022 and she told him she was 13. He asked her to send photographs and when he received some he told her she was “gorgeous”.
He said that when she was 16 she would have more boyfriends than she could handle. And then he asked if he could be her boyfriend and said he would like to be the first to have sex with her.
Webb suggested meeting at a hotel and then sent her two pictures of his private parts. He then said he wanted to marry her.
The court was told a real 13-year-old girl received contact from him on Facebook. He said “hello” and thanked her for accepting him as a friend. He suggested meeting in a hotel and then said they could also meet at Preston Railway Station for a coffee.
Webb was alleged to have told her that her age was OK for him to have sex with her. He also told her he loved her.
Another girl, also 13, was contacted by Webb on Facebook and soon he turned the conversation to sex. He asked to meet her, asked for photographs and told her he would teach her about sex.
When the paedophile hunters confronted him outside his home in Fulwood he told them someone had hacked his computer.
The prosecution said Webb’s behaviour amounted to the grooming of young girls. He had even told one he would need to meet up with her at weekends because she was at school during the week.
Despite the attempts to engage in sexual communication with the children, no sexual activity had actually taken place. But he had tried to bribe them into a relationship by saying he would buy them presents.
Barrister Beverley Hackett, representing Webb, said her client accepted the offences were serious even though they were only attempts to engage with children.
“He has had the opportunity at looking at the evidence. He naturally – and should do – feels ashamed. But he offers no explanation as to why he conducted himself in that way.”
Ms Hackett urged the judge to pull back from an immediate custodial sentence saying that, because of his age and the offences he had committed, he could be targeted in prison. She said he had never been in prison before and it would be more punishing for him than men who were younger and less vulnerable.
Judge Preston said Webb’s behaviour had been for his own sexual gratification. “I don’t accept you didn’t know why you did it.
“You don’t accept what you did and what you are, that you are in no way attracted to children. As long as you continue to deny what you are . . . there is a high risk of similar offending.
“Your level of remorse is also limited in my view. You denied (your guilt) and continued until your pre-trial review when eventually you realised you had nowhere else to go.”
The judge said he had to bear in mind Webb’s age when sentencing him.
“I accept custody to someone of your age maybe particularly punitive. But I don’t believe you are a candidate for rehabilitation because of you continued lack of insight … about what you did.
“This is far too serious for anything other than immediate custody.”
He jailed Webb to a total of 40 months, up to half he would serve in prison and the rest on licence. He ordered that he must inform police of his whereabouts and any changes in his circumstances for the rest of his life.