A shamed dad was sacked from his "very well paid job" at a major firm after being outed as a paedophile.
Andrew Teale was exposed following an operation by the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit. The ECHO can now reveal that, until his arrest, the 43-year-old was an important figure at FTSE 250-listed company AJ Bell.
He previously served as the investment platform's head of innovation and was listed as one of its directors on Companies House from 2007 onwards before his resignation in July this year. Teale was previously responsible for "overseeing major IT initiatives across the business", according to news of his promotion on industry sites four years ago.
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But the married dad has now lost his "very well paid job" and changed his name after engaging in sickening online chats with what he believed to be a young girl. He quickly turned the conversation from theme parks to threesomes before performing a sex act over Skype.
Liverpool Crown Court heard this week that the decoy account had been set up as part of NWROCU's Operation Meteor. Neil Bisarya, prosecuting, said that Teale first got in touch with the supposed 12-year-old child using the profile name Andy4Fun on January 10 this year.
He messaged her saying "hey, what are you looking for" and told her he was "Andy from Warrington". The pervert asked "why she was off school" and if she was "ok talking to an older guy", before saying it "made him feel old" talking to her.
Teale, now of Abbey Road in Tyldesley, asked if she had Skype - where he said it would be "lots easier to chat". The conversation continued on this platform, with the pair talking about cars and theme parks before he enquired what the "naughtiest thing she had done" was.
He claimed to have had a threesome during lockdown and talked about masturbating, as well as asking if she had "ever done anything with her ex-boyfriend". Teale also said "things get better with an experienced partner".
Despite saying he would "stop with the sex talk", the dad continued to talk about "getting horny" and "needing to take care of his urges". He asked if she had "ever watched a man pleasure himself" and offered to do so on a video call.
When he was sent a picture of a girl, Teale said she was "beautiful" and described himself as being "nice looking but a little overweight after Christmas". He told her he was "thinking what you look like without a nightie" and that "thinking about her in her knickers was making him aroused", asking what colour they were and requesting a picture to "get him more turned on".
The sex offender then masturbated on camera in a one minute 50 second video chat, during which he inadvertently showed his face. Teale then apologised saying he "only meant to give a quick flash".
On January 13, he messaged the account to say he was "really sorry for the other day" and said what he did was "wrong" but then asked if she "liked what he did". The defendant told the girl he was on a video call with a woman who was performing a sex act using a carrot, but said that he "preferred" the youngster.
Teale told her she was "sexy" and that he "wished he was younger" as he "would want to be with her". He then apologised again and said he had to get ready for work, at which point communications ceased.
Two weeks later on January 28, police executed a search warrant at his home. When arrested, Teale passed his Samsung Galaxy to officers and told them: "It's all on there."
This phone was analysed and did not contain "any illegal images". But materials which "indicated an interest in indecent images of children" were discovered, as were around 200 pictures of him "in sexual poses".
Teale - who has no previous convictions - has since changed his name, although his new alias was not stated in court. Simon Christie, defending, said his client had been a "very hard worker with an excellent job and a good family life".
But his "very well paid" employment has since been terminated, while he has also "sought treatment". Mr Christie highlighted how Teale ended his behaviour after four days, adding: "Nobody stopped him but himself.
"It is obvious to him at that stage that what he had done was unforgivable and he had the strength of character to stop. Fourteen days after that, the police knock at the door and he realises he is in very, very serious trouble indeed."
Teale admitted admitted attempting to engage in sexual activity in the presence of a child and attempting to engage in sexual communications with a child but was spared prison, instead being handed a 12-month imprisonment suspended for two years. He was told to complete 150 hours of unpaid work and a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 35 days.
Sentencing, Recorder Tania Griffiths KC said his offending was "motivated by boredom and self stimulation rather than a sexual interest in children". The judge added: "You are a man of good character.
"Your shame and remorse seems to be genuine. You stopped yourself and recognised the severity of what you had done.
"You also lost a very well paid job, and no doubt this has caused major disruption to your family life. I consider it highly unlikely you will ever come back before these courts again."
Teale was also handed a 10-year sexual harm prevention order, with the forfeiture and destruction of the seized device also ordered.
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