A 71-year-old man has been sentenced to more than two years in prison after admitting to online child sex offences Northamptonshire Police have reported.
Between 8 November and 14 December last year, William Griffiths, formerly of Kettering, engaged in an online conversation with someone he believed to be a 12-year-old girl.
In reality, the girl was a decoy created by an online paedophile hunter group. During their exchanges, Griffiths sent inappropriate messages of a sexual nature, shared a topless photo of himself, and requested images in return.
Griffiths was arrested at his home address after the online group contacted Northamptonshire Police to report the interactions between the pensioner and one of their decoy operatives. While in police custody, another group contacted the Force with evidence of Griffiths speaking to another decoy – this time a 14-year-old girl – via Facebook between 29 October and 13 November.
Once again, the chats were of a sexual nature. Griffiths was subsequently charged with two counts of engaging in sexual communication with a child and a further count of arrange/facilitate the commission of a child sex offence.
On 16 December, Griffiths was remanded in custody after he entered no plea at Northampton Magistrates’ Court and his case was committed to the county’s crown court for trial at the end of January.
However, on 27 January, at Northampton Crown Court, he pleaded guilty to all three charges and on 25 March, Griffiths was back before the same court where he was sentenced to 27 months’ imprisonment and was issued with a five-year Sexual Risk Order.
Investigating officer Detective Constable Ruth Marshall, of Northamptonshire Police’s Online Child Abuse Investigation Unit, said: “The private conversations William Griffiths had with the decoys were unsettling and therefore I am really pleased that he has been brought to justice. Although thankfully there was not a real child in this case, it does not lessen the seriousness at all because Griffiths fully believed he was talking to two girls aged just 12 and 14 years of age.
I hope this case reassures the public that we will always act on information reported to us to continue to keep children in Northamptonshire safe and to bring anyone who threatens that safety to justice.”
