CONNOR GRANT FROM RUNCORN SENTENCED FOR CHILD SEX OFFENCES IN WARRINGTON

A man named Connor Grant, who resides in Runcorn, has been convicted and sentenced for engaging in highly disturbing online communications with a person he believed to be a 13-year-old girl. The offences took place in Warrington, where Grant carried out the illicit exchanges. His actions came to light after paedophile hunters intervened, leading to his arrest and subsequent court proceedings.

Grant, aged 27, appeared before Chester Crown Court on a recent Friday to face charges related to attempted sexual communication with a minor. The court was informed that between August 20 and 21 of the previous year, he had directly messaged an account he believed belonged to a young girl. Unbeknownst to him, this account was a decoy operated by members of a paedophile hunter group, whose purpose is to identify and apprehend online predators targeting children.

Initially, Grant engaged in conversation with the fake profile on Facebook Messenger. During their chat, the decoy girl claimed to be 13 years old. Grant responded with comments indicating his awareness of her age, saying, “damn you're young,” and revealing that he was 27. He then exchanged contact details, providing his phone number and requesting to continue their conversation on WhatsApp, citing concerns that his Facebook account might be monitored by social services.

Once on WhatsApp, the exchanges quickly turned sexual in nature. Grant sent explicit images and videos, and the decoy girl made it clear she was under the age of consent. Despite this, Grant continued to describe sexual acts in graphic detail, sharing videos and images depicting sexual activities and explaining what was happening in each.

Throughout the conversation, Grant persistently asked the decoy to send him images of herself. He also made comments warning that engaging in sexual acts with someone under 16 could lead to arrest and lifelong registration as a sex offender. Nevertheless, he continued to send sexually explicit content and requested further images from her.

Grant’s behavior raised further concerns when he repeatedly asked the girl to delete their chat records and inquired whether her parents had checked her phone. His actions persisted until August 21, when authorities received a call from the paedophile hunter group informing them that they were outside Grant’s residence in Latchford and intended to confront him.

Two police officers responded to the scene and found the group outside Grant’s home. Initially, Grant appeared calm, but his demeanor changed when he was informed he would be handcuffed. He became aggressive, resisting arrest and lashing out at the officers. In response, the officers used incapacitant spray to subdue him, which resulted in injuries caused by the spray itself. Despite his resistance, they managed to secure him and take him into custody.

Following his arrest, law enforcement officers seized multiple digital devices from Grant’s home, including mobile phones, gaming consoles, and laptops with hard drives. Investigations confirmed that the messages exchanged on Facebook and WhatsApp were stored on these devices.

During police interviews, Grant refused to answer questions regarding his online communications, replying with “no comment” to all inquiries about the sexual exchanges with the decoy girl. At his court appearance, now residing in Leaside, Runcorn, he was sentenced to two years in prison, which he is to serve immediately. Additionally, he was handed a 10-year sexual harm prevention order to restrict his future activities.

Cheshire Police’s protecting vulnerable people unit, represented by DC Becky Warburton, expressed satisfaction with the sentence. She stated, “Grant, by his own admission, was fully aware that his actions were wrong, and he was solely driven by his warped sexual desires. While there was no direct victim involved, his conviction means that we have removed a dangerous paedophile from the streets, someone who intended to exploit children through the internet and social media.”

She further emphasized the importance of the sentence as a deterrent, hoping it will discourage others from committing similar offences in the future.