May 2009 Internet predator groomed and abused girl An internet predator who befriended a youngster online and then lured her to Weston-super-Mare and sexually abused her has been handed an indeterminate sentence for public protection. Pub worker Richard Butlin, 47, established contact with the 14-year-old girl via an internet chatroom in which he posed as a boy called Stu aged 19, Bristol Crown Court heard. After expressing his love for her, and admitting he was actually in his 40s, he picked her up near her Tetbury home when she was 15 and took her to a B&B at the seaside resort, but the suspicious owners called police and they burst in as the abuse was unfolding. Police then found indecent photos of the victim and other girls aged the same on Butlin’s mobile phone and computer. Butlin, of Desford , Leicestershire, pleaded guilty to meeting a child following sexual grooming, two charges of having sexual activity with a child and abducting a child. He also admitted two charges of making indecent images of children and four counts of possessing indecent images of children. Imposing the IPP, of which Butlin must serve a minimum term of four years before he is considered for release, Judge Carol Hagen told him: “The events outlined highlight the danger of such offences. She (the victim) was 14 when you first made contact with her. On any view she was a vulnerable teenager.” The judge gave Butlin an indeterminate Sexual Offences Prevention Order, banning him from unsupervised contact with under 18-year-olds, forbidding contact with the victim and stopping him from owning a computer or accessing the internet, save for police-monitored access. Butlin was told to register as a sex offender indefinitely. The judge commended the “prompt and public-minded” actions of Jonathan Mannings-Hill, of the Richmond Hotel in Park Place, Weston-super-Mare, and awarded him £100 from public funds for calling the police. Kate Brunner, prosecuting, said Butlin and the girl established contact and he told her loved her before they exchanged text messages of a sexual nature. She said: “In September 2008 he told her he was 42. He must have been aware of her real age and the defendant suggested they should meet.” The court heard that, following a family row, the girl texted Butlin to pick her up and she left her home in her school uniform, saying she was going to school and then seeing a friend. “She met the defendant near her home and he took her to Weston-super-Mare for the day, and then to a B&B,” Ms Brunner said. “He told her to say she was 16, but the owner was suspicious about their ages and about their behaviour being odd.” Ms Brunner said police were called and arrived after Butlin and the girl had returned from a meal out and gone to their room. Interviews later revealed how Butlin told the youngster he loved her and sex acts followed between them before police knocked on the door and found them. The girl tearfully told officers she was 16, Ms Brunner said, and Butlin went on to say he thought she was “16-ish”. Ms Brunner said Butlin was found to have three topless picture of the victim as well as 40 indecent pictures of similarly aged girls, which appeared to have been sent by them to him. Text messages from the girl were found including “love you too” and others talking about underwear and photos, the court heard. Butlin had a previous conviction for two indecent assaults, involving improper touching, Ms Brunner said. Brendon Moorhouse, defending, said that the girl had said to police she would have told Butlin to stop his activities if she thought he was “doing something wrong”. She also indicated her friends were sexually active, and she wanted to be like them. Mr Moorhouse said his client was deemed to be a reliable employee at a pub in Leicestershire called the Bull’s Head, and had not spend all his time closeted away on his computer. Detective Constable Angela Church told the Bristol Evening Post: “Last year Richard Butlin went on to the internet and started an inappropriate relationship with a 14-year-old girl. One day he picked her up on her way to school, abducted her and sexually assaulted her. “Officers found her the same day she left and Butlin was arrested. During the subsequent investigation officers found many indecent images of children on his computer. “Today Butlin has been sentenced to a minimum of four years in prison for the sexual offences he committed. This sentence shows the gravity of his actions and sends a clear message that this sort of behaviour will not be tolerated. “Avon and Somerset Constabulary takes child abuse extremely seriously and has specially trained officers dedicated to tackling these crimes. “Internet grooming is not a common occurrence but this case does highlight the importance of parents monitoring their children’s use of the internet. “I would urge anyone who allows a child to use their internet connection to keep an eye on what they are doing and to take five minutes to explain that not everyone on the internet is who they say they are.”