An 'embarrassed' paedophile tried to leave the country after being caught offering money for pictures of teenage children. Cristinel Solomon, 50, thought he was messaging two girls online but the accounts were actually being operated by adults who worked with a paedophile hunter group.
After being arrested and released on bail, Solomon tried to flee and was detained at Liverpool's John Lennon Airport. Solomon, from Moss Side, is due to be released from prison shortly having spent about eight months in jail.
Manchester Crown Court heard that he 'completely and utterly denied' the offences when interviewed by the probation service. "Currently you are unable to admit the reasons for your offending to the probation service," Solomon was told by Judge Elizabeth Nicholls.
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"I accept there can be embarrassment and also distress at what you have done. However you have taken the first step by entering your plea of guilty."
Prosecutors told how Solomon spoke online with two 'decoy' accounts who posed as children. One 'decoy' told Solomon that she was 13, and he claimed to be 18.
He offered to send her money if she shared explicit photos of herself. Solomon told her that 'age didn't matter' and that 'only love between us matters', prosecutor Mark Kellet said.
He also sent the 'child' a picture of his penis. Solomon also offered a second 'girl' money for her to send explicit images, and asked her to meet in person.
When she declined to send any photos, Solomon said it would take him 'five minutes' to find 'another smarter girl' online.
Solomon was arrested and was released on bail, before being detained at the airport on October 5 last year. Defending, Peter Malone said Solomon pleaded guilty to the offences but had difficulty speaking about them.
"I think the majority of it is because of embarrassment," he said. "In relation to that, he has moments where he will accept what has happened, and then suddenly change to the views as expressed in the pre-sentence report."
He said Solomon has no previous convictions, and that he'd worked at a car wash for five years. Solomon, of Brentwood Street, Moss Side, pleaded guilty to two counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.
Sentencing, Judge Nicholls told him: "In reality you were communicating with a decoy that had been set up by a vigilante group. In the course of your communication with that person, they repeatedly told you that they were only about 14-years-old.
"Notwithstanding that, your communication swiftly turned to contain sexualised contents. You asked for intimate photographs of her and offered increasing amounts of money to send such photographs.
"When she wasn't willing to provide the photographs you suggested you would look on the internet for other girls to provide photographs. Had this been a 14-year-old child, you would have caused considerable harm to that person."
He was sentenced to 12 months in prison, and will serve half of the jail term in custody. Given that he has already spent around eight months in prison, he is due to be released soon.
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