WIGAN PAEDOPHILE THOMAS JONES CAUGHT IN POLICE STING AT ECCLES MCDONALD'S

In a significant operation carried out by law enforcement authorities, Thomas Jones, a 59-year-old resident of Wigan, was apprehended after attempting to meet a person he believed to be a 14-year-old girl. The incident unfolded in Eccles, where Jones had arranged to meet the girl he had been communicating with online.

Jones’s actions came to light through a carefully coordinated police sting, which involved undercover officers creating fake profiles of children on various social networking platforms. These profiles were designed to lure potential offenders and monitor their interactions. Jones was deceived into believing he was engaging with a minor girl, and he subsequently traveled to Eccles with the intent to meet her in person.

He was ultimately caught when he arrived at the designated meeting spot. The police had been monitoring his online activity and recognized his intent to meet the girl, leading to his swift arrest. Jones’s residence is located on Clap Gate Lane in Wigan, and he was taken into custody on suspicion of multiple serious offenses.

At Liverpool Crown Court, Jones pleaded guilty to a series of charges, including sexual grooming of a child, attempting to meet a child following grooming, engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a minor, and possession of indecent photographs of a child. The court sentenced him to 12 months in prison and ordered him to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register for a period of ten years.

The investigation revealed that Jones had used a website called ‘Just Chat’ to locate and communicate with the supposed minor girl. Over a span of approximately one month, from September to October 2010, he engaged in 25 private conversations via an internet chat facility, during which he repeatedly made sexual references and explicit remarks.

One particularly disturbing incident involved Jones exposing himself to the girl via webcam during one of their MSN conversations. Despite his efforts to establish a meeting, he failed to show up at his initial arranged encounter. Undeterred, he scheduled another meeting at a McDonald’s restaurant in Eccles, Salford. However, on the day of the meeting, Jones was unable to locate the restaurant, which raised suspicion among the police.

On October 29, 2010, officers from Greater Manchester Police’s Sexual Crime Unit arrested Jones on suspicion of attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming. During the search of his van, law enforcement officials discovered a handwritten note containing the postcode for the McDonald’s in Eccles, further linking him to the planned meeting. The police’s swift action and thorough investigation prevented what could have been a tragic incident, highlighting the ongoing efforts to combat online grooming and protect vulnerable minors.