July 2022 Pervert caught by paedophile hunters A pervert has been jailed for four years after he was confronted by an online paedophile hunter group for chatting to a decoy posing as a girl aged 11. Joshua Beaumont was exposed by paedophile hunting team Fighting For Innocents after one of its members posed as the child and he encouraged her to send photos and perform sex acts. Beaumont, 26, of Wards End, Halifax, was given a community order in September, 2020, at York Crown Court for possessing indecent photographs of children. In April this year, he contacted the decoy profile posted online, Bradford Crown Court heard today. She told Beaumont she was 11 but he persisted in the sexualised chat, prosecutor Laura McBride said. He gave the decoy his address after she said she wanted to send him a friendship bracelet she had made for him. He was then confronted at his home by members of the group who reported him to the police. Officers seized computers and phones from his address that he had not disclosed under the terms of the Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) made when he was given the community order. He went on to plead guilty to breaching the order, attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity and attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child. Judge Colin Burn said an immediate custodial sentence was inevitable. Beaumont was jailed for 39 months for the latest offending. The community order was revoked and added an extra nine months was added consecutively to his prison term. He will be subject to a SHPO for 15 years and he must register as a sex offender with the police for the rest of his life.