Northamptonshire man caught arranging 'play date' for abuse of seven-year-old gets over four years

A man from Northamptonshire who was caught arranging a ‘play date’ to abuse a seven-year-old girl has been handed over four years in prison.

Darren Parks, 51, of Hazel Crescent, Towcester, West Northamptonshire, was caught in a police sting operation wherein an undercover officer posed as a parent offering his seven-year-old daughter (who was not a real child) for ‘play dates’ with paedophiles.

Northampton Crown Court heard on 8 April that Parks approached the undercover officer’s character in an online chat forum under his own pseudonym before discussing how he would go about abusing the apparent child.

Benjamin Gow, prosecuting, read: “There was a police operation in which an undercover operative, known as ‘Alex’, created a character who was a 33-year-old male with a young daughter.

"The defendant contacted the operative, describing himself as a ‘filthy b******d with no limits’."

He then asked if it would explicit questions about the “play date”, the nature of which the Chronicle & Echo has decided not to publish.

"The operative asked the defendant whether he had any experience with a child previously. He said with a nine-year-old,” Mr Gow said.

As the conversation continued, the two accounts moved across several message boards and began discussing prices. ‘Alex’ said the abuse, which Parks asked to include sexually assaulting the child, would cost £120.

Parks agreed, however the planning ended once the conversation moved to Snapchat, which Parks did not have access to.

Police later tracked Parks down. Upon his arrest Parks denied having any sexual attraction to children and instead claimed that it was a “fantasy” which he found “kinky” when discussed with others, predominantly women.

Matthew Bolt, defending, argued that the planning of the abuse took place over “just two hours” and, because Parks did not rekindle the conspiracy, he had merely been caught “in the heat of the moment”.

Mr Bolt argued: “Just as a drunk man will pick a fight with someone who he wouldn’t while he was sober, in the heat of the moment Mr Parks fully intended to go through with it. But then he sobered up.

"Mr Parks voluntarily broke off communications. It was all done over two hours in this particular case, and that is significantly less than other cases where credit was given for breaking off communications that took place over several weeks.”

The court also heard that Parks, who had no prior offences, was a “devoted family man” of “positive good character” within the community. Mr Bolt also said that Parks felt “truly ashamed”.

His Honour Judge Herbert QC said in sentencing: “You accept that this was not just fantasy. It was more.

"Although it involved a child that did not exist, you did not know that.

"I accept that you feel remorse and shame for what you have done. And those feelings will be felt most strongly by your family.”

Darren Parks was sentenced to 40 months in prison and a SHPO for ten years.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article stated that Parks had been jailed for four-and-a-half-years. We have been asked by the solicitor representing Parks to clarify that the sentence was 40 months and we have corrected the article to reflect this.