October 2019 Sexual predator who took girl’s virginity caught trying to lure another child A sexual predator who took a 14-year-old girl’s virginity was caught trying to lure another child. Russell Fairburn befriended a schoolgirl on Facebook, pretended to be 23, and invited her to his Kensington flat. After plying her with alcohol and cannabis, the fiend had sex with her – while his son of the same age sat in another room. The twisted pervert , then 35, was jailed for six years and eight months, after admitting six sexual offences in 2011. He was told to sign on the Sex Offenders Register and to comply with a Sexual Offences Prevention Order for 10 years. After his release from jail, he targeted a mum-of-three, after identifying she had children on dating website Plenty of Fish. He moved in with the single mum and her family, but she later stumbled upon his dark past and contacted the police. Fairburn, who admitted breaching his order by living with the children, was locked up for 10 months in December 2015. Today he appeared back at Liverpool Crown Court after being rumbled yet again – this time by “paedophile hunters”. Christopher Taylor, prosecuting, said the now 43-year-old was caught out by a member of the group Predator Closure. The man set up a fake decoy profile for a 14-year-old girl on social networking and dating application Skout last year. Fairburn contacted this ‘girl’ on September 28 and asked if she had a boyfriend and wanted to go to the cinema. He asked if she would like to kiss him, said her profile picture was “pretty”, then asked how old she was and was told 14. Mr Taylor said: “He made reference to her boobs, asking what size they were and indicating he would like to touch them.” Fairburn said her profile was “very sexy” and initially arranged to meet her the following day, September 29, at his home. However, he later confessed to police that he thought it might be a “trap”, so blocked the paedophile hunter on the app. Officers were alerted to a disturbance in Clint Way, Edge Hill, where Fairburn lived with his mum and adult son, the next day. They found Fairburn and the member of Predator Closure, who revealed details of their conversations to officers. When arrested and interviewed, Fairburn said he had been out of prison for around two and a half years. He said he wanted to meet up with somebody just to chat and had used Plenty of Fish to talk to adults. Fairburn then confessed to speaking to a girl on Skout, who he claimed he had thought was 18. The court heard he deleted the Skout application from his phone, deleting the history of his conduct. He admitted attempted sexual communication with a child, attempting to meet a child after sexual grooming and breaching his order. Judge Anil Murray said Fairburn had again started a “grooming process”, including asking this new ‘girl’ if she smoked cannabis. He said he deleted the app to try and “cover up” his crimes and was assessed as a medium risk of causing harm to children. Judge Murray jailed Fairburn for two years and four months, which prompted applause from two men sitting in the public gallery. He ordered him to sign on the Sex Offenders Register and to comply with a Sexual Offences Prevention Order for 10 years. Sexual predator jailed for grooming schoolgirl A sexual predator has been jailed for grooming and then having sex with a 14-year-old he plied with booze and drugs Russell Fairburn also received a ten month jail sentence in December 2015 for breaching his probation.