August 2021 Paedophile who tried to meet fictitious 13-year-old girl for sex back at court for flouting orders A paedophile who was locked up for trying to meet a 13-year-old girl for sex has been hauled back before the court for breaching his sex offender order. Michael Buckley was snared by paedophile hunting group the Child Online Safety Team while grooming who he believed was an underage girl online. The 36-year-old, who tried to meet the fictitious teenager for sex in Edinburgh, told her it could be her first sexual experience and he would “give her a seeing to”. He was jailed for two years and four months at Teesside Crown Court in July 2019 after he admitted attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity and arranging or facilitating a child sex offence. Buckley was told he would be on the sex offenders’ register, and would have to abide by a sexual harm prevention order, governing his contact with under-16s and computer use, both for 10 years. On Tuesday afternoon, Buckley appeared before Teesside Magistrates’ Court in Middlesbrough for flouting the orders. Rachel Butt, prosecuting, told the court how he was found to have deleted history on his phone, chats, cookies, messages and emails. She said he also created a alias under the name michael10467 which has been used on a dating website since October last year. Ms Butt said the offences were discovered when is phone was analysed by police on December 7 last year. Buckley, of Soppitt Street, Redcar, indicated a guilty plea to two charges of breaching a SHPO and one count of failing to comply with notification requirements at a previous hearing. During the previous court case, Buckley’s defence barrister told the court how Buckley showed regret and remorse in forthright and candid admissions and early guilty pleas. He said he had an extremely low IQ and a psychologist assessed him as having a mental age of 10-and-a-half. The court also heard how Buckley had suffered difficulties in his background, was treated for depression and tried to kill himself at 17. District Judge Helen Cousins asked Buckley if he understood the order, which banned him from deleting history and chatting online. He said: “Not straight away, I didn’t no. Now it’s been explained to me properly I understand it properly. “Now I have got a cheap Nokia. I’m not doing anything like that in my life ever.” District Judge Cousins said: “I know you don’t want to go back to custody.” Buckley replied: “No I don’t.” District Judge Cousins said: “You were close today. I’m going to suspend it.” She sentenced him to 18 weeks in prison suspended for 18 months. She warned him: “For the next 18 months if you put so much as a foot out of place then you’re going to prison for four-and-a-half months.” Buckley was ordered to carry out 30 rehabilitation activity requirement days and pay court costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £122. Before the defendant left the court room, District Judge Cousins asked him “Do you understand?” Buckley replied: “Yes I do now, thank you, thank you very much your honour.” She told him: “Hopefully I won’t see you ever again.” July 2019 Paedophile told fictitious 13-year-old he would ‘give her a seeing to’ A pervert was caught grooming a fictitious 13-year-old girl by a group targeting online sex offenders. Michael Buckley, 34, tried to meet the underage girl for sex in Edinburgh, giving explicit details of what he wanted to do. But he was not speaking to a young girl at all, but an adult pretending to be a child, Teesside Crown Court heard. Buckley was communicating with a member of a group which identifies possible child sex predators. Buckley was snared by the group in April. Prosecutor Nigel Soppitt said Buckley contacted a false account and started making “flirtatious” conversation, claiming he was 22. The next day, “matters became more intense” as Buckley asked the girl to meet him in the Scottish capital. He suggested staying at a B&B and carrying out sexual acts and explained sexual terms to her. He said he would “give her a seeing to” and could be her first sexual experience. He asked her for pictures and sent her a photo of his genitals, another with his top off and one, strangely, depicting him in a line-up. The group contacted the police, Buckley was arrested and owned up to searching for profiles and sending the messages. He confessed to officers he had a sexual interest in 13-year-old girls, but later denied that to a probation officer. Buckley, of Stone Street, central Middlesbrough, admitted attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity and arranging or facilitating a child sex offence. Judge Howard Crowson said the Child Online Safety Team’s purpose was diverting sex offenders from harming real children. The Court of Appeal ruled that such offenders’ culpability was not affected if they were not speaking to a real child, he added. The judge told Buckley: “The offence you sought to arrange was full sexual intercourse. “You had done it having groomed her the day before. “The conversation had changed from flirtatious to overtly sexual. “What you were proposing was clearly illegal. You talked about the sexual acts you desired.” Judge Crowson took into account the “particularly difficult challenges” Buckley faced. He added: “You function at something around about child level in terms of your intellectual self.” Buckley was jailed for two years and four months. He was given a sexual harm prevention order governing his contact with under-16s and computer use, and will be on the sex offenders’ register, both for 10 years.