Man caught at station waiting for girl for sex

A man was caught waiting at a train station for a 14-year-old girl he had wanted to meet for sex, a court has heard.

Mark Williamson, 47, thought he was talking to the teenager in a chatroom but it was actually a decoy profile run by online child abuse hunters, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

Williamson was confronted by the group outside Sunderland station having deluged the girl with sexual messages before inviting her to meet him there.

He was jailed for two and a half years after admitting attempting to engage in sexual communications with a child and arranging the commission of a child sexual offence.

Williamson was posing as a 19-year-old when he began messaging the "girl" on a chatroom for teenagers on Chat Avenue on 16 November, prosecutor Stuart Graham said.

He quickly became sexual, telling the "girl" she was "stunning" and asking for pictures of her legs and feet, the court heard.

Williamson, of The Gables in Washington, Sunderland, said he wanted to travel to Portsmouth where he believed the "girl" lived and take her to a bed and breakfast for sex.

When the "girl" said she feared sex would hurt, he said he would be "gentle" but it would be their "secret", the court heard.

He also sent her pictures of his crotch while asking for pictures of her in return, Mr Graham said.

He arranged to meet her outside Sunderland station on 2 December, telling her he would refund her the cost of her train ticket, the court heard.

But when he arrived he was met by the group running the decoy profile with police swiftly called.

Recorder Ian Mullarkey said he had "no doubt" Williamson had gone to the station intending to meet a girl for a sex.

He said he did not accept Williamson's claim that he was motivated by "boredom and intoxication", citing the persistent nature of his messages.

"It was not, as you claim, a moment of madness but a determined effort to meet with and attempt to engage in sexual activity with her," the judge said.

He also rejected Williamson's claim he did not have a sexual interest in children, saying it was a "deliberate piece of targeting" with Williamson choosing to enter a chatroom for teenagers.

A sexual harm prevention order limiting his use of internet-enabled devices was also made.

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