NORFOLK MAN SPARED JAIL OVER ATTEMPTED SEXUAL COMMUNICATION
A 71-year-old man was caught by online vigilantes after arranging to meet a young girl at a hotel, intending to engage in sexual activities with her.Kevin Woodhouse had been communicating via the internet with a teenager he believed was 14 years old.
According to Norwich Crown Court, he engaged in explicit conversations with the girl online before switching to WhatsApp.
During their chats, he inquired if she had developed breasts and if she wanted to be "rude with me." He also suggested they could "do sexy things together" and sent a photograph of his genitals.
Additionally, he asked to see her body and planned to meet her in person.
He agreed to meet the girl outside a hotel on the seafront in Great Yarmouth, but members of a paedophile monitoring group were waiting for him.
Police were alerted, and Woodhouse was arrested after the planned meeting on August 29, 2024.
The defendant, who resides on Main Road in Filby near Yarmouth, faced sentencing on Tuesday, June 9, after pleading guilty to attempting to communicate sexually with a minor and attempting to meet a girl under 16 for grooming purposes.
Both charges related to conduct between August 26 and August 29, 2024.
Recorder John Hardy remarked that Woodhouse had intended to have sex with the girl he aimed to meet.
"That is fundamentally wrong and rightly criminalized by our law," he stated.
Recognizing his guilty pleas, the judge sentenced Woodhouse to 12 months in prison, suspended for 18 months.
During mitigation, Rob Pollington explained that Woodhouse had been struggling with feelings of rejection ever since his wife left him several years ago.
He noted that Woodhouse sought companionship online, reaching out to anyone who responded.
Mr.
Pollington emphasized that Woodhouse was not specifically seeking out minors but was making "catastrophically poor decisions driven by loneliness and fear of rejection." He added that Woodhouse had not committed any offenses since and was remorseful and ashamed of his actions.
Woodhouse was ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work and attend 10 days of Rehabilitation Activity Requirements.
He was also subjected to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years and placed on the Sex Offenders' Register for the same period.
