Online sting caught Corby paedophile asking 'young girl' for her knickers

A Corby paedophile asked what he thought was a 13-year-old girl to send her knickers to him in the post.

Anthony Farrow, 32, sent sick messages to the Facebook user and encouraged them to perform sex acts despite thinking they were a child.

But after giving them his address to send their underwear to a vigilante paedophile hunter group turned up at his door - because he had been unknowingly talking to them all along.

He later admitted his twisted actions but claimed he didn't know why he did it when he was interviewed by a probation officer.

Jailing him for 16 months, His Honour Judge David Herbert QC told him: "The answer is because you have a sexual interest in young girls."

Yesterday (Tuesday) Northampton Crown Court heard a paedophile action group had two decoy accounts on Facebook, one named Yaz and one named Chloe, both of which were contacted by Farrow in 2019.

The pervert, of Rockingham Mews just off Stephenson Way, first came to their attention when he messaged Yaz on February 11, telling her he was 30 when she said she was 13.

He asked her questions about her underwear before asking her for pictures a few weeks later.

Months later in July he then made contact with Chloe, again asking about her underwear after being told she was 13.

Prosecuting, Tony Stanford said: "He asked for pictures of her pink knickers and suggested a webcam before trying to video call her."

The call was declined but the persistent Farrow, who has a previous conviction for arson, didn't end contact there.

He encouraged her to perform a sex act before contacting her again the next day, making another attempt to video call her.

Farrow then sent her a lewd image of himself and told her to engage in further sexual activity before asking her to send underwear in the post.

Mr Stanford said: "He then sends her his address and asks for her knickers.

"[The next day] he asks if the knickers have been sent."

Further video calls were not answered and on July 25 the vigilante group confronted him at his home, where he admitted contacting 10 children in total.

Mr Stanford said: "He told them he knew what he had done and he should not have done it."

Farrow was arrested by police and, despite admitting three child sex offences, was reluctant to accept his offending was sexually motivated, the court heard.

Mitigating, Chantelle Stocks said Farrow suffers from ADHD and autism and had shown genuine remorse and regret for his actions.

She said: "He said he feels sick to his stomach."

Judge Herbert QC told Farrow he would serve half of his 16-month prison sentence behind bars before being released on licence - and said the sentence would have been longer had the decoys been real children.

He said: "People must understand that if they sexually communicate with young people to this extent the consequence will be an immediate sentence of imprisonment."

Farrow will be subject to a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years, with restrictions on his contact with children and internet use, and be on the register for sex offenders for 10 years.