HARRY WILLIAMS CAUGHT IN LONG EATON PAEDOPHILE PLOT AT DERBYSHIRE SUPERMARKET

In December 2022, a disturbing incident unfolded in Long Eaton involving Harry Williams, a 21-year-old man who became entangled in a serious criminal investigation after attempting to engage in inappropriate conduct with a minor. Williams had arranged to meet a 14-year-old boy in the car park of an Asda supermarket located in Derbyshire, with the apparent intent of engaging in sexual activity.

Unbeknownst to Williams, the individual he was communicating with was not an ordinary teenager but a member of the online paedophile hunters group TFN.uk. This vigilant group had set up a decoy profile, posing as a young boy on Facebook, to catch potential predators. The Derby Crown Court heard how Williams initiated contact with the decoy, quickly turning the conversation sexual in nature. He asked the boy if he had ever engaged in sexual contact and requested explicit images of his private parts.

Instead of receiving such images, the group sent Williams a picture of a topless youth from the internet. Undeterred, Williams responded by sending a photograph of his own buttocks and then arranged to meet the boy at 10:30 pm in the Asda car park, citing that Kyle’s mother would be at work and the boy would be alone.

Williams drove to the designated location in his car but, upon arrival, he found no one matching the boy’s description. He then drove away from the scene, leaving the area without making contact. The paedophile hunters, recognizing the potential danger, promptly contacted the police. Law enforcement officers responded swiftly and arrested Williams at his home address on Station Road in Long Eaton.

During police interviews, Williams initially claimed he believed he was communicating online with a 19-year-old. However, he later admitted that the boy had told him he was only 14 and that he had chosen to ignore this fact. He also confessed to planning the meeting at the Asda car park.

In court, Recorder Michael Auty KC sentenced Williams to a two-year community order. The judge emphasized the importance of protecting children and condemned any actions that could cause harm to minors. He stated, “What you need to understand is that society is geared towards protecting its children and what is abhorrent to society is anyone who seeks to damage the physical, emotional or sexual welfare of people under the age of consent. They are vulnerable and very often they don’t realise quite how vulnerable they are. What might seem to you to be perfectly harmless can cause incurable damage to them but this was not a real child; it was a decoy. Your position is made worse by your driving to the scene to meet the boy, only to drive away when no one matching his description was present.”

The court also considered the assessment of an experienced probation officer, who indicated that Williams posed a high risk of harm to children, particularly boys aged 13 to 17. Williams, who has no prior convictions, pleaded guilty to attempted sexual communication with a child, marking a serious step in his legal proceedings. The case underscores the ongoing efforts of law enforcement and community groups to combat online predatory behavior and protect vulnerable minors from exploitation.