Shy businessman jailed for online child sex offences after predator trap

A pervert who attempted to incite an 11-year-old girl into sexual activity has been sentenced to four and a half years in prison. Brian Sumner, aged 61, created a fake online persona claiming to be 25 years old and engaged in chat conversations with someone he believed was an 11-year-old girl named 'Izzy'. The decoy was actually a paedophile hunter who caught Sumner out and reported him to the police. Sumner admitted to multiple sexual offences involving children. During court proceedings, prosecutor Hanifa Patel informed the Preston Crown Court that the decoy confirmed her age as 11 during sexual chats with Sumner, who encouraged her to Masturbate and discussed meeting up, though no meeting took place. After his arrest, authorities examined his phone and discovered indecent images depicting children as young as five, including 18 images classified as Category A, 12 as Category B, 160 as Category C, as well as prohibited cartoon images and extreme animal images. Defense lawyer Bob Elias highlighted Sumner's previous good character, describing him as a 'law-abiding white-collar worker' who was shy and timid, but had succumbed to online temptations. The judge, Andrew Jeffries KC, sentenced Sumner to 45 months’ imprisonment and imposed a sexual harm prevention order, with Sumner being placed on the sex offenders register for life. The judge remarked that, had it not been for the paedophile hunter, the victim could have been a real child, and emphasized that Sumner was willing to engage in inappropriate behaviour with an 11-year-old.