"He said he would like to take her out"
Mohammed Uddin, aged 24, of Birmingham, received a suspended sentence after he was caught by paedophile hunters trying to ask a child for sex.
He communicated online with three schoolgirls who were in fact paedophile hunter decoys.
Oliver Woolhouse, prosecuting, told Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court:
“It was made clear that Skye was a schoolgirl.
“He told her he was 21 and said he wished he was younger so they could go out.
“He said he would like to take her out and by June 1 he said he would like to cuddle her in bed. He asked for selfies and told her she was cute.
“She said she needed to use mum’s phone to take photos and he asked her not to.
“He asked for sex. On July 2 he asked if she would let him kiss her private area.
“On July 20 he talked about when they met they could kiss and ‘do naughty stuff’ like the images he had previously sent.
“On July 31 they were still discussing where they might meet but he appeared to have cold feet and made his excuses.
“He described it was perfectly natural, sexual activity, but it would have to be kept a secret.
“The conversations ended on August 18, 2019, but the arranged meeting never took place.”
Discussing the other two decoys, Mr Woolhouse continued:
“He stated that Emma was cute and hot and told her he wished he was younger.
“He said he wanted sex and love though he feared he was being baited.”
He made contact with Shannon on September 20, 2019, and suggested they could be ‘friends with benefits’.
However, Uddin was caught by vigilantes in Staffordshire, where he used to live.
Members of Scorpion Hunters UK approached him. Uddin is told:
“I’m called Dave, I’m from a group of paedophile hunters. I’m out here tonight representing Scorpion Hunters UK.
“Do you understand what we do? Do you want to hazard a guess as to why we stopped you tonight?
“We find and identify, apprehend and hand over people to the police who target child for their own sexual gratification.
“You have been stopped today because we want to speak to you about your online activity regarding speaking sexually to underage girls online, specifically sexual grooming.
“Now you’re not being detained today because you’ve been engaged in conversation with an adult in a sexual nature.
“You’re being detained today because you’ve been talking to children.”
“There are multiple teams on you.”
Uddin repeatedly replies: “I’d rather wait for the police.”
The encounter on October 1, 2019, ends with Uddin being placed in the back of a police car.
Uddin pleaded guilty to attempting to incite a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity and three offences of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.
In mitigation, Steve Hennessy said Uddin has accepted he has issues that need to be addressed.
He said: “The attempt to incite sexual behaviour was an attempt, she was not a real child and no sexual activity took place.”
Judge David Fletcher said: “There was grooming behaviour used against a girl you thought was aged 11.
“There was a significant difference in age between you and her.
“You have no previous convictions and you did express remorse. These were attempts.”
Uddin was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for two years.
He must complete a rehabilitation activity requirement for 55 days.
Uddin was also made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) for 10 years and was placed on the sex offenders’ register for the same period.