June 2022

Jail for sex offender snared by paedophile hunter group

A man snared by online paedophile hunters posing as 12 and 13 year old girls has been jailed.

Paul White, 55, had been having sexualised communication with what he believed were giris, aged 12 and 13, but in fact were members of a group known as Innocent Voices.

Norwich Crown Court heard White had been communicating with them after setting up fake profiles on social media.

Duncan O’Donnell, prosecuting, said that between October 2021 and March this year White had been engaged in “sexualised chat” with the pair, asking them if they had boyfriends and if their breasts had developed yet.

He requested they send pictures and asked whether they wanted to see him – although never met up with them.

But White was then contacted by an adult decoy who said she was an adult woman who he met with at a pub in Upwell on March 13 this year.

He was then confronted by paedophile hunters who had passed on details to the police.

White had been in possession of an internet-enabled mobile phone which was in breach of a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) imposed on him after previously being convicted for sexual offences in 2017.

White, of Dovecote Road, Upwell, near Wisbech appeared at court on Thursday (June 9) May to be sentenced after having previously admitted four offences, including two charges of sexual communications with what he believed was a girl under-16.

He also admitted breaching a sexual harm prevention order imposed in 2017 by attempting to communicate with under-16s and possessing a mobile phone without informing police.

Jailing him for 40 months Judge Katharine Moore said the spell of offending was “deeply concerning”.

Judge Moore said White was a “dangerous offender” who was assessed as being a “high risk of causing serious sexual harm” to children.

White was ordered to sign on the sex offenders register for 10 years while the case was adjourned until July 7 when a new sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) will be made.

April 2022

Man pleads guilty to child sex offences after paedophile hunter sting

A man snared by online paedophile hunters posing as a 13-year-old girl has admitted a string of child sex offences. 

Paul White, 54, of Dovecote Road in Upwell, near Wisbech, was confronted on his doorstep by members of a group known as Innocent Voices on March 13.

As a result of the sting, that saw him asking what he believed were teenage girls for nude images and discussing sexual acts, he was arrested.

Appearing at Norwich Crown Court on Monday he pleaded guilty to four offences including two charges of sexual communications with what he believed was a girl under-16. 

He also admitted breaching a sexual harm prevention order imposed in 2017 by attempting to communicate with under-16s and possessing a mobile phone without informing police.

Three not guilty pleas to encouraging underage girls to engage in and look at images of sexual activity were accepted by prosecutors.

Judge Andrew Shaw warned him “custody of considerable length is inevitable” as his previous convictions were “concerning, as is your future risk”.

White was remanded in custody to be sentenced on May 10.