September 2022 Paedophile hunters catch Bransholme man in ‘sting’ operation Paedophile hunters turned up at the home of a pervert who was caught and exposed in an online “sting” after believing he was chatting sexually to two 14-year-old girls. Perverted Jonathan Barnes got involved in highly sexualised conversations with the decoy girls but had no idea that it was an adult man who was “masquerading” as a girl to trap him during the chats. He sent them intimate pictures of himself and tried to get them to send indecent pictures of themselves to him but it was all a trick to incriminate him, Hull Crown Court heard. Barnes, 40, of Bisley Grove, Bransholme, admitted two offences of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child in October and November 2020 and another of causing a child to engage in sexual activity. Harry Crowson, prosecuting, said that Barnes was caught in a “sting” by paedophile hunters, with a man “masquerading” as a 14-year-old girl. The decoy confirmed during online chats with Barnes that the fake girl was 14 years old. They exchanged selfies but Barnes asked her: “Wanna see something else?” and, despite being reminded that she was only 14, he sent her an intimate picture of himself. He asked the fake girl intimate questions and asked her to send indecent images of herself. He was arrested on November 15 and it came to light that he had also been involved in chats with another decoy 14-year-old girl. He had sent her an indecent picture of himself and asked her intimate questions. Judge Mark Bury told Barnes: “You behaved very badly to two people who you thought were two 14-year-old girls. In fact, they were adults on a paedophile hunter website. Clearly, you are ashamed of what you did but you have tried to minimise it, to some extent. “It’s quite clear that you were fully aware that she was 14 years old, even though you say you weren’t. It’s quite clear that you were getting a measure of sexual gratification for this, otherwise, why do it? “This was all ended by paedophile hunter groups, one for each identity, arriving at your door, giving you aggravation and then calling the police, and then you being arrested. It’s difficult to say how long this behaviour would have gone on unchecked. “You carried out these chats with people that you thought were 14 years old. I simply can’t overlook that. There was no actual harm done because these two individuals were not children.” Barnes was jailed for one year. He was given a 10-year sexual harm prevention order and must register as a sex offender for 10 years.