September 2021 Bolton Crown Court: Man jailed after being caught twice by ‘paedophile hunters’ A dad-of-three has been jailed for child grooming offences after being caught twice by ‘paedophile hunters’. Bolton Crown Court heard Matthew Leonard, of Glendale House, Bolton, engaged in contact with what he believed to be two 14-year-old girls on Facebook between December 2019 and January 2021. Neil Fryman, prosecuting, told the court: “A member of Hunting for Justice, a self-proclaimed ‘paedophile hunters’ group, set up a fake Facebook profile portrayed as a fictitious 14-year-old girl called, Ella Jones.” The former tyre-fitter exchanged around 385 messages with the profile over Facebook between December 23 and 29, 2019. Leonard also invited ‘Ella’ to his friend’s house, where he said he would be alone, and discussed graphic sex acts during their conversations. He claimed to be aged 25, a few years younger than he was at the time, the court heard. The messages resulted in a planned meeting outside Farnworth Library where Hunting for Justice representatives chased Leonard towards the town’s Asda store. He was later arrested by police. He had also offered to pay for a hotel room for the pair previously, despite the messages repeatedly saying she was 14. While on bail for the first offence, Leonard befriended ‘Madison Jenkins’ – who he believed was a 14-year-old girl from Ipswich. The court heard how the 32-year-old paid her compliments and made sexual suggestions, as well as encouraging her to travel five hours from her hometown to Moses Gate train station so the pair could meet. He also encouraged her to send illicit photographs. But ‘Madison’ was a profile used by a second ‘paedophile hunter’ group called Justice for Kids. The communication died out and Leonard was later arrested on April 8, 2021. Leonard has been before the courts 30 times before for 45 offences since 2004 – but not for sexual offending. He admitted to attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity and attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming Passing sentence, Recorder David Temkin told Leonard: “After much careful consideration I do not find you to be a dangerous offender. “Although you pleaded guilty and you had difficulties growing up with relationships, drugs and alcohol, these count for very little in terms of mitigation.” Mr Recorder Temkin added that the sentences for both offences had been reduced due to the fact that he did not commit “actual harm” to any minors. He was jailed for 50 months and will be subject to a sexual harm prevention order. June 2021 Pervert will go to jail for child grooming offences A father-of-three will serve jail time after he was caught by ‘paedophile hunters’. Matthew Leonard, 31, of Glendale House, Bolton, pleaded guilty to attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity and attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming. The Nightingale Court at the University of Bolton Stadium heard how in December 2019, the former tyre-fitter reached out to who he believed to be a young teenage girl on social media. Neil Fryman, prosecuting, told the court: “A member of Hunting for Justice, a self-proclaimed ‘paedophile hunters’ group, set up a fake Facebook profile portrayed as a fictitious 14-year-old girl called, Ella Jones.” A total of 385 messages were exchanged over Facebook between December 23-29, 2019. Leonard also invited the supposed minor to his friends house, where he said he would be alone, and discussed different types of graphic sex acts during their conversations. He presented himself as aged 25, a few years younger than he was at the time, and then went on to ask her if she was setting him up, to which she replied ‘no’, the court heard. The messages resulted in a meeting outside Farnworth library on December 29, 2019 – where a group of the protagonists from Hunting for Justice chased the defendant towards the Asda in the town. He had also offered to pay for a hotel room for the pair previously, despite the messages repeatedly saying that she was 14. In mitigation, defence lawyer Nicholas Ross said: “There’s no clear evidence that this communication and the eventual meeting would have ended in direct sexual engagement. “This was a decoy case. Given the fact that these were not the complete offence, I would urge that there is a downward reduction in the sentencing. Ultimately, these were attempts. “This is a man who has had addiction problems for more than half his life.” Leonard has a criminal history, having been brought in front of the court on 30 occasions for several offences since 2004 – but this is the first one of a sexual nature. Recorder David Temkin told Leonard: “You will remain in prison for some time. “I want to re-read all the message exchanges so I am not going to pass sentence today, but it will probably be to your benefit that I look over all the submissions.” He adjourned the sentencing until July 20, while he analyses the evidence and makes a decision on what he deems to be the appropriate length of sentence.