DENIS TURNER AND SHOCKING ONLINE PREDATION IN LONDON
A convicted sex offender, Denis Turner, was caught on his doorstep by a group of civilian paedophile hunters operating in London.During this confrontation, Turner, aged 29, showed no remorse for his actions and bizarrely claimed that his ongoing online interactions with a supposed 13-year-old girl were merely intended as a form of entertainment.
The incident unfolded after Turner believed he was engaged in a six-week-long sexual conversation with what he thought was a young girl.
In reality, he was speaking with a member of the Child Online Safety Team, who had created a fake social media profile to lure and catch individuals attempting to engage in illegal activity with minors.
The covert operation was initiated after Turner’s communication, which had gone from June to July 2019, caught the attention of authorities as evidence of predatory behaviour.
Chelmsford Crown Court heard details of the disturbing exchanges during the sentencing hearing.
Prosecutor Gary Rutter explained that Turner repeatedly queried whether the girl’s parents knew about their conversations, often urging her to delete their messages so she wouldn’t get into trouble.
His questions ranged from inquiries about her school life and siblings to increasingly inappropriate and sexual topics.
Turner explicitly asked the decoy whether she would be a 'bad girl' and even suggested she was to play with herself, indicating the sexual nature of his intentions.
Moreover, Turner took the disturbing step of sending explicit images of his penis to the decoy, further evidencing his illicit intentions.
Following the online conversation, Turner’s local residence in Colchester was visited by the paedophile hunters, who filmed the confrontation.
During the footage, Turner dismissed his actions as 'just a bit of fun' and posted the video on Facebook.
Subsequently, Turner was arrested and taken into custody.
Now residing at Ibstock Close, Dagenham, he later admitted to attempting to incite a child to sex.
However, his case was delayed significantly, partly due to the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Turner appeared before court for sentencing on a Thursday.
During mitigation, Peter Clark, Turner’s legal representative, acknowledged that his client had faced numerous personal difficulties which, he said, did not excuse his behaviour.
Clark emphasized that Turner cared for his 72-year-old father, who was awaiting open-heart surgery, and highlighted that Turner had maintained a clean record for the three years following his offending.
Despite these points, Judge Mary Loram QC did not accept a claim made by Turner that he had no sexual interest in young girls.
The judge emphasized that Turner's persistent pursuit of sexual conversations, explicit images, and efforts to manipulate the decoy into concealing their interactions evidenced clear grooming conduct.
The judge described Turner's behaviour as relentless, with a focus primarily on obtaining sexual images and encouraging the minor to masturbate, all while ignoring her obvious naivety.
Judge Loram condemned Turner's manipulative tactics, including his attempts to threaten her with trouble if she did not cooperate, which she described as profoundly frightening for a child of that age.
The court observed that Turner had pressed on with his online manipulations for weeks, clearly involving elements of grooming.
Addressing Turner's claims during a pre-sentence report interview, the judge dismissed his assertion of having no sexual interest in underage girls as untrue.
She acknowledged his troubled upbringing but stated that it did not justify his predatory conduct.
In her sentencing remarks, the judge noted the significant gap of three years since the offending, which she saw as a mitigating factor.
Turner had not re-offended during this period, and she recognized the stress caused by the delay in sentencing.
Ultimately, Denis Turner was sentenced to 27 months in prison.
He was also ordered to sign the sex offenders register for a decade and was placed under a five-year sexual harm prevention order, restricting his future contact with minors and monitoring his behaviour to prevent further offences.
