Man bit police during child sex offence arrest
BBCA man who spent three months sending sexual messages to what he thought was a 14-year-old girl bit a police officer when he was being arrested, a court has heard.
Paul Skinner, 35, contacted the Facebook profile of a teenage girl, which was actually being run by adult volunteers, with the opening message "hello gorgeous how's you xxx", Newcastle Crown Court heard.
When police went to arrest him at his home, he threatened to "swill" them with hot tea before biting one on the leg, prosecutor Rachel Butt said.
Skinner, from the Walker are of Newcastle, was given a suspended prison sentence after admitting attempted sexual communication with a child and assaulting an emergency worker.
He first contacted the profile of a girl on Facebook messenger in October 2023, Ms Butt said.
After being told she was 14, he apologised and said he was too old and should not be messaging her, adding he would delete her from his contacts, the court heard.
But instead he continued to message her over the next three months with his communications becoming increasingly sexual, the court heard.
He said asked for pictures of her, told her she was beautiful with "hot eyes" which could "cripple a man" and said he wanted to watch her dance and "twerk", Ms Butt said.
Skinner also described explicit sexual acts he wanted the teenager to perform on him, the court heard.
When the girl told him her mother had ordered her to move out, he said "come live with me, I would look after you", the court heard.
'Exploit a child'
The volunteers running the profile sent chat logs to police who went to his home and arrested him on 1 February 2023, the court heard.
He became angry with officers and bit one on the leg as he was being put into handcuffs, the court heard.
In mitigation, the court heard Skinner had been a promising footballer and worked as a landscape gardener before being injured in a bike accident.
Recorder Toby Hedworth KC said he accepted Skinner had been injured but that was not the "principle cause" of his offending, the bigger issue was Skinner's copious use of cannabis which he chose to do.
The judge said Skinner's behaviour had been "deliberate" and "sexually motivated" over the course of several months, adding Skinner showed a "willingness to exploit what [he] perceived to be a vulnerable child".
There were multiple points when Skinner could have stopped messaging the girl, who he had been repeatedly told was 14, yet he persisted, the judge said.
Skinner was jailed for 11 months suspended for 18 months with a sexual harm prevention order and sex offender register requirements also made.
