SIMON LANDSBERG OF GADSTONE SENTENCED FOR SEX OFFENCES IN CROYDON
A sexually dangerous and obsessive offender has been sentenced to prison after paedophile hunters successfully lured him into believing he was grooming and planning to meet a 14-year-old girl.Simon Landsberg, 68, of High Street, Godstone, engaged in online dialogues with what he thought were three teenage girls, grooming them before he attempted to meet one at Ashburton Park in Croydon.
The court heard that Landsberg approached the girls online, initiating prolonged communication—including sexual conversations—before attempting to meet at the park on June 20 last year.
When confronted by paedophile hunters during the attempted meeting, police were contacted and Landsberg was promptly arrested.
A video footage from the scene shows members of the public challenging Landsberg about the meeting, with officers subsequently leading him away in handcuffs.
During questioning, he initially confirmed his name as 'David,' the alias he used online, before admitting his real name was Simon.
He faced charges for three counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a minor, attempting to meet a child under 16, and breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).
Landsberg has a prior conviction for facilitating a child sex offence, for which he received a three-year prison sentence in 2017.
That incident involved actual children.
At a sentencing hearing at Croydon Crown Court on February 11, the court was told that Landsberg had interacted with three decoys posing as 14-year-old girls on various online platforms.
He openly engaged in lengthy conversations, mostly sexual in nature, asking one of them about her body and expressing a preference for small breasts.
Judge Adam Hiddleston quoted Landsberg saying, 'You told her you loved her and wanted to kiss, cuddle and massage her.' The judge highlighted further disturbing comments by Landsberg, who instructed one girl to delete all communication between them, and claimed to have been in trouble previously for falling in love with younger girls.
He also told one of the decoys that when they met, he expected her to urinate in her pants.
When Landsberg arrived at the park, he was met by members of the public acting as the victim, who had concealed their true identities online.
Landsberg engaged in similar sexual discussions with two other profiles, falsely claiming he was 43 and discussing physical contact, massaging, and touching.
The conversations predominantly revolved around how the girls could sexually stimulate themselves, after which he encouraged them to erase all messages.
Following his arrest, police searched Landsberg’s person, discovering two mobile phones and a WiFi dongle.
Further searches of his home uncovered a laptop, on which most of the conversations had been deleted.
The court acknowledged that Landsberg’s conduct was dangerous, displaying a clear pattern of hiding ongoing sexual offending activity.
It was also noted that these offences were committed while he was on licence for previous sexual offences and in breach of his SHPO conditions imposed in 2017.
A pre-sentence report stated, 'He exploited the apparent vulnerability of all three victims and his behaviour throughout was sexually motivated.
He gave no regard to the potential harm inflicted and, had he not been caught, his behaviour was likely to have continued.' It described his conduct as 'bordering on obsessive.' Defence lawyer David Stanton expressed remorse, stating Landsberg recognizes the severity of his actions and needs help.
Stanton said, 'He very much regrets and is remorseful of his actions.
He genuinely feels that what he has done is unforgivable.' Landsberg was sentenced to 44 months in prison, with an extended licence period of three years.
The court also ordered the imposition of a new SHPO, along with the forfeiture and destruction of all items seized during police searches.
