A 'bored' plumber sent a 'girl' a picture of his penis and a vile video as he waited in his van before a job. Paul Roche was stung by an undercover police operation as an officer posed online as a 12-year-old girl.
Roche, 46, received a friend request on Snapchat from the officer, posing as a girl called Hollie. At first he thought it was a friend playing a trick on him, Manchester Crown Court heard.
But the chat quickly turned sexual, despite the 'girl' making it clear she was only 12. Roche, from Salford, asked Hollie for pictures and told her he was 'always horny'.
He tried to incite Hollie to engage in sexual activity and sent her a picture of his penis as he sat in his work van. Roche asked how sexually experienced she was, and whether she was wearing knickers, prosecutor Charlotte Crangle said.
Then Roche sent Hollie a video of himself masturbating. "He suggested he was sitting in his vehicle, bored, waiting to go on a job," Ms Crangle said.
Roche was arrested at 5pm the same day in June at his home, following the social media chats which lasted for about one day. He was already on the sex offender's register after being cautioned by police for an incident two years earlier.
He had stopped his van and told a teenage girl 'how attractive she was', the court heard. Defending, Michael James said Roche had not sought out the 'girl' online himself, and that police had instigated the contact.
But sentencing judge Suzanne Goddard KC told Roche: "They set a trap for you, and you fell in it." The court heard Roche 'can't explain why' he committed the offences.
The judge added: "There can't really be any proper explanation for your behaviour, other than that you have a difficulty with a sexual attraction to girls under the age of 16." Mr James said that after receiving the friend request, Roche initially thought it was a friend playing a trick on him.
Roche spent two weeks in jail after being found to have breached his bail conditions, by speaking to a five-year-old boy who lived near him. Mr James said the time in prison had allowed Roche to 'reflect' on his behaviour and is 'disgusted' by it.
He was released from jail after the judge passed a two year suspended prison sentence. Judge Goddard said she was able to spare him from more time behind bars after ruling there was a realistic prospect of rehabilitation in his case.
Roche, of Beatrice Street, Swinton, pleaded guilty to attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity, attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act, attempting to sexually communicate with a child and attempting to arrange or facilitate sexual exploitation. He must complete 200 hours of unpaid work, 15 rehabilitation activity requirement days and sign the sex offender's register for 10 years.
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