May 2023

Man planned to meet ’14-year-old girl’ for sex but she turned out to be an adult from a paedophile hunter group

A sex predator who planned to meet up with an underage girl for sex and asked another for naked photos had the shock of his life when paedophile hunting team ‘Dank Dragon’ turned up at his place of work.

William Moyle, of Oakwood Avenue, Clase, Swansea, made contact with what he thought were two 14-year-old girls via an online site, before further communication was made on WhatsApp.

Moyle, aged 55, requested explicit photographs during conversations with a girl named ‘Zoe’ and discussed travelling to meet up for sex with another girl named ‘Savannah’.

The conversations between Moyle and one of the ‘girls’ took place between August 27, 2021 and August 30, 2021, while the communication with the other took place between August 23, 2021 and September 11, 2021.

However, it turns out that the girls did not exist at all, and in fact they were both decoys set up by different online groups who target paedophiles.

On September 10, 2021, one of the organisations turned up at Moyle’s place of work and confronted him. Police were then informed and Moyle was arrested.

Prosecution barrister Jeffrey Jones told Cardiff Crown Court on Wednesday that Moyle knew the ages of those he thought he was communicating with, but said that, when interviewed initially, he told police that he “knew they were decoys” and that he was merely “passing time”.

However, he later pleaded guilty to two counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.

Summing up the case, Judge Jeremy Jenkins told Moyle that “the obvious intention was to have sexual intercourse with either or both” of what he believed were 14-year-olds.

Judge Jenkins sentenced Moyle to 18 months imprisonment, suspended for two years. He must attend 35 sessions of the UK Government’s Horizon programme, and complete a 30-day rehabilitation course.

He must also carry out 150 hours of unpaid work, pay costs of £720, and sign the sex offenders’ register for seven years