PINCHBECK MAN JAILLED FOR SEXUAL OFFENCES
A man from Pinchbeck, Jason Hildred, aged 48, has been sentenced to 16 months in prison after attempting to engage in sexual conversations with individuals he believed to be underage girls.Hildred of Walpole Close in Pinchbeck was also ordered to register as a sex offender for ten years and was subject to a sexual harm prevention order.
Lincoln Crown Court was told that Hildred started exchanging messages with someone he thought was a 12-year-old girl named Dani on the Chat Avenue website in November 2020.
Prosecutor Noel Philo explained that Dani was actually part of an organisation aimed at protecting children.
During these social media exchanges, which also took place on WhatsApp, Hildred attempted to initiate sexual conversations.
Additionally, Hildred contacted another social media user he believed was an 11-year-old girl called Izzy.
Mr.
Philo stated that this individual was also affiliated with the same safeguarding organisation, and Hildred once again tried to engage in sexual chats.
The court also heard that Hildred had a prior conviction from 2013, when he was sentenced to a three-year community order for attempting to meet a girl under 16 following sexual grooming.
He was arrested again in June 2021 and admitted during interviews that he was "totally stupid" about his recent actions.
Despite being granted bail, Hildred was re-arrested later that year by a police decoy posing as a 14-year-old girl.
He was remanded into custody and later pleaded guilty to three counts of attempting to engage in sexual communications with a child.
Defence solicitor Nicholas Bleaney told the court that all three offences were "attempts," with no physical contact involved, and Hildred deserved maximum credit for his guilty pleas.
Bleaney added, "His supervision for the previous offence ended in 2015, and it was five years before the first of this contact in November 2020." He explained that the period of offending was influenced by lockdown circumstances, noting that Hildred, who worked on the railways before losing his job, found himself isolated with no distractions.
During this time, his girlfriend was suffering from cancer and subsequently died, a woman from Thailand.
The court also heard that Hildred was a victim of a scam artist to whom he handed over his life savings of £70,000.
Passing sentence, Judge Simon Hirst emphasised that none of Hildred’s victims were real children.
However, because of his previous conviction and his offending while on bail, the judge ruled out a suspended sentence.
Addressing Hildred, the judge stated, "What you did was exactly the same thing with someone you thought was a 14-year-old girl."
