Northants Police undercover sting catches paedophile sending photos to 'schoolgirl'
An undercover officer caught out the man in a chatroom
A man was caught sending pictures of himself committing a sexual act to an undercover police officer he believed to be a 14-year-old girl.
David Mansell, 54, was posting in an online chatroom under the pseudonym 'Bored Dad', when he sent a private message to the officer, who called herself Hannah.
Northampton Crown Court today (Thursday, June 23) heard he told her he was 30 and from Oxford.
'Hannah' told Mansell, of Churchill Road, Bicester, that she was 14.
Prosecuting, Victoria Rose, said: "This did not seem to bother him."
The defendant continued to talk in a sexual way and then sent a picture to the officer of him carrying out a sexual act.
Hannah sent him a picture of a girl in a school uniform and he said that it was nice and continued the lewd chat.
The offences took place in March 2018 and Mansell was charged in December of that year.
Mitigating for Mansell, barrister Micaila Williams said that the charge had been hanging over him for two years and said that her client had mental health difficulties for which he was receiving help.
"He poses no ongoing risk, as far as the probation serivce can see, to others," she said.
Mansell, who has no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to engage in sexual activity with a child.
Her Honour Judge Rebecca Crane said he had refused to acknowledge to the authorities that he had a sexual interest in children.
In deciding his sentence, Judge Crane said that she had taken his guilty plea, his history of mental health difficulties and the time it had taken the case to come to court into account.
He was handed an 18-month community order with the compulsion to carry out 40 hours of rehabilitation. He was also given a sexual harm prevention order and banned from working with children or vulnerable adults for five years.