RYAN MASSEY SENTENCED IN BEDFORD FOR CHILD SEX OFFENCES AFTER ONLINE GROOMING INCIDENT
A Bedford man named Ryan Massey was sentenced to four and a half years in prison after he traveled to the KFC car park in Kempston, Bedfordshire, believing he was meeting an 11-year-old girl for sex.Massey arrived there in May this year and was confronted by paedophile hunters waiting for him.
Following the confrontation, police were called and Massey was arrested.
At the time of the offence, the 28-year-old had been communicating online with four young girls, who were all actually decoys set up by online paedophile hunter groups.
These decoys were artificial profiles with fake details posted on Facebook by hunters to catch individuals seeking to engage in sexual activities with minors.
Massey was unaware that these profiles, named “Sammi,” “Rosie,” “Sky,” and “Lilly,” were operated by adults pretending to be children.
During his online interactions, Massey, of Edward Road in Bedford, had exchanged messages with girls aged between 11 and 15.
He quickly moved from conversation to sexual content, sending images of genitalia and encouraging the girls to send him intimate photos.
In particular, he had been in contact with “Sammi,” and had messaged her the day before their meeting, saying: “When I see you we can have sex for the first time.” The police later found that he had sent similar messages to the other three girls.
Massey pleaded guilty to multiple charges.
He admitted to attempting to arrange or facilitate a child sex offence involving the decoy “Sammi.” He also pleaded guilty to attempting to cause or incite a child under 13 to engage in penetrative sexual activity, as well as attempting sexual communication with her.
Additionally, he faced six other charges concerning his online contact with the other three decoys in May this year, which included attempting to incite or cause penetrative sexual activity and engaging in sexual communication with minors.
The court was told he had encouraged the girls to masturbate through messages he sent.
During sentencing, Judge Lynn Tayton highlighted Massey’s immediate engagement in sexualised conversations upon contact, stating: “You invited them to engage in penetrative sexual activity and you sent photos of your private parts and invited them to send you photos of their private parts.” The judge noted that Massey then progressed to asking to meet the girls for sex.
When the decoys objected to what he was asking, Massey allegedly pressed them to continue.
Alongside his four and a half year jail term, Massey was ordered to be subject to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order, which will monitor and supervise his online activity and access to computers.
His name is also to be added to the sex offenders' register, and he is barred from ever working with children.
The court also ordered the forfeiture and destruction of a mobile phone found on Massey at the time of his arrest.
