Laura Harding has appeared before the Isle of Wight Magistrates Court this morning (Friday) charged with 2 counts of engaging in sexual communication with a child following a sting by the well-known paedophile vigilante group ‘Guardians of the North’. During the appearance she entered a guilty plea to both offences. Magistrates passed sentence of six month imprisonment suspended for a one year.
Harding, of Hookes Way in Newport, was arrested at the beginning of November after ‘The Guardians’ conducted an undercover online sting. They travelled to the Island before alerting Police.
Hampshire Constabulary bailed Ms Harding but have since charged her with the 2 offences. She is accused of communicating sexually – through text and pictures – with 2 people who she believed to be under the age of 16 for her own sexual gratification.
As well as the suspended jail term, Harding was made subject of a sexual harm prevention order and told to sign the sex offenders’ register
