KEVIN TOMLINSON IN SUNDERLAND AVOIDS JAIL AFTER SEEKING CHILD FOR 'CHEEKY KISS'
In September 2017, Kevin Tomlinson, a 37-year-old from Sunderland, was caught attempting to meet a purported 15-year-old girl at a Subway sandwich shop in the city centre for a "cheeky kiss." His online communications began approximately two and a half hours prior to the planned meeting, during which he expressed his intentions with comments like, "Maybe we might end up in bed." When Tomlinson arrived at the designated location, he was apprehended by members of Dark Justice and other vigilante groups who had set up the sting.Tomlinson, who previously received a caution for indecently assaulting a young girl during her childhood, faced court proceedings where he admitted to attempting to meet a minor after grooming her online.
The court was told that in June of the same year, he had arranged to meet a girl he believed to be 15, but was actually a decoy.
Prosecutor Kevin Wardlaw detailed the timeline: “Within two-and-a-half hours of initiating the internet chat, the defendant arranged to meet her at half past midnight at a local Subway shop in Sunderland.
He disclosed his age as 37 and learned she lived in Sunderland and would be alone for a few hours.
The girl suggested she could visit him for a "cheeky kiss" and see what happens, to which Tomlinson responded, ‘maybe we might end up in bed.’” Although Tomlinson had no prior sexual convictions, he was previously subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order after a police caution in 2013 for indecently assaulting a girl aged between three and six in the 1990s, when he was a teenager.
His occupation in the food and drinks industry was impacted by the arrest, leading to him losing his job.
Judge Robert Adams sentenced Tomlinson to nine months in prison, suspended for two years, along with program requirements.
Additionally, he was handed a 10-year sexual harm prevention order and placed on the sex offenders’ register for ten years.
The judge emphasized the importance of professional intervention, stating, “You are best served, and particularly, more importantly, the public is best served by seeking to deal with your difficulties in a more comprehensive fashion.” Probation officers assessed Tomlinson as posing a "medium risk of harm to children, particularly when under the influence of alcohol." The paedophile hunters criticized the leniency of the sentence, describing it as “weak.”
