Paedophile swapped abhorrent rape fantasies online
BBCA paedophile who discussed meeting what he thought was a 14-year-old boy for sex and swapping rape fantasies online has been given a suspended sentence.
Karl Clennell, 37 and from North Shields, thought he was messaging a child online but it was actually an undercover police officer, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
When police seized his phone, they found a stash of indecent images of children as young as two and discussions in which he swapped fantasies with other child abusers.
Clennell was jailed for 17 months suspended for two years after admitting attempting to engage in sexual communications with a child and making indecent images of children.
Clennell made contact with the profile of a boy on Snapchat in February 2025, prosecutor Gurjot Kaur said.
The pair exchanged messages over several weeks in which Clennell asked for nude pictures of the boy, sent naked photographs of himself and arranged to meet up for sex, the court heard.
When the decoy profile asked if Clennell was serious about meeting, he replied "defo" although did not respond to any further messages and made no "concrete" plans to see the boy, the court heard.
Clennell was arrested at his home and had his mobile phone seized on 14 May, the court heard.
On his device, officers found conversations he had been having with other paedophiles on Telegram and Kik, Kaur said.
'Utterly abhorrent chats'
In one of the chats, one person said they wanted to rape a toddler in a hotel room to which Clennell replied "that would be hot", the court heard.
Another user said they fantasied about a 12-year-old boy, to which Clennell responded that was his "favourite", the court heard.
Police also found six indecent category A images, the most serious kind of sexual abuse pictures and videos of children, 12 in category B and seven category C along with one prohibited image of a child, the court heard.
The children depicted ranged in age from two to 16 years old, Kaur said.
Recorder Andrew Walker said the conversations Clennell had were "utterly abhorrent" but accepted the paedophile did seem to "voluntarily desist" from messaging the boy and making a plan to meet.
The judge said Clennell's role in searching for and downloading indecent images of children "perpetuates the cycle of abuse".
"They are not just pictures, they are real victims of sexual abuse," the judge said.
Clennell, who had been assessed as posing a medium risk of serious harm to boys, was also ordered to complete 150 hours unpaid work, sign the sex offender register for 10 years and comply with a sexual harm prevention order for seven years.
