Man confronted in live-streamed paedophile hunter Facebook sting 'mortified' by actions -court told
A man confronted by paedophile hunters in a live-streamed sting on Facebook is 'mortified' by his actions, a court was told.
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Robert Derricutt, formerly of Caradoc Crescent in Shrewsbury, was sentenced at Shrewsbury Crown Court - sitting at Telford Justice Centre - after admitting five charges.
The 52-year-old pleaded guilty to two charges of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, one count of attempting to incite a child between 13 and 15 to sexual activity, and two charges of making indecent photos of children.
Nicholas Tatlow, prosecuting, told the court that Derricutt had been confronted by a vigilante group outside his home in January 2022.
The group live-streamed the confrontation on Facebook after learning his address by calling his mobile phone and pretending to be from the parcel firm DPD.
Mr Tatlow said that incident came after Derricutt had contacted a fake profile for a 14-year-old girl called 'Masie X' which had been set up by one of the vigilante group's members on a dating app Randochat.
The court heard that when he initially contacted the profile 'Masie' had responded by saying 'hey, I am Masie, 14, from Newcastle'.
Conversation followed where the defendant said he would explain sexual roleplay, and told 'Masie' he could be a teacher and she could be a schoolgirl' - to which the account responded that she was a schoolgirl.
Further sexual conversation followed where the account again explained how old she was, to which Derricutt responded by saying: "I don't mind if you don't."
