Paedophile said girl, 13, could be his daughter
BBCA "disgusting" paedophile who told what he thought was a 13-year-old girl she could pretend to be his daughter if they were seen has been given a suspended sentence.
James Stewart, 47, went to pick the girl up from Heworth Metro station in October but was met by the online child abuser hunters behind the decoy profile he had been messaging, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
Stewart, who signed off many of his messages with "lol", had asked the girl to be his girlfriend but said because of her age they would have to hide their relationship, prosecutors said.
Stewart, from Gateshead, admitted attempting to engage in sexual activity with a child and attempting to meet a child after grooming.
Stewart began messaging the profile on Facebook on 30 September, prosecutor Emily Sanderson said.
He talked about her looks and the conversations became "sexually explicit" with him sending her pictures of his penis, the court heard.
At the end of messages describing graphic sexual acts he wanted to perform, Stewart would write "lol", the court heard.
He said she could pretend to be his daughter if they were out together, Sanderson said.
'Fully expecting girl meeting'
"Because of your age, I can't really say you're my girlfriend lol," he wrote in a message, the prosecutor said.
On 2 October he went to the Metro station to meet her but was confronted by the child online safety group, the court heard.
In mitigation, the court heard he had mental health problems and lived an isolated life.
Recorder Paul Reid said Stewart groomed the girl with a "barrage of messages" of the "most explicit sexual nature".
The judge said the messages were "particularly disgusting" and Stewart had gone to the Metro station "fully expecting" to meet a 13-year-old child.
Stewart was jailed for 16 months suspended for two years.
He must also sign the sex offender register and comply with a sexual harm prevention order indefinitely.
