September 2014
West Cumbrian man tried to groom schoolgirl in web chat-room
A man used an internet dating site to groom a schoolgirl – and ended up at the centre of a police sting.
Instead of being run by a young girl, the account was in fact set up by police officers carrying out an undercover operation.
John Briley, 30, of Portland Road, Salterbeck, Workington, appeared at Carlisle Crown Court.
Tim Evans, prosecuting, said Briley had been using the website Badoo on April 9 and had begun chatting to a user of the site.
“From the first contact, it was indicated that [the girl he was chatting to] was 14,” Mr Evans told the court.
“There was chatting over a number of hours on the first day of contact, and the defendant asked if she wanted to contact him via WhatsApp [an internet chat service which works across mobile phones].”
On the same day, Briley sent a message through the website offering the user a job with his business.
Mr Evans said Briley continued to make contact with the Badoo account on several other occasions over the next few months and the conversations soon took a sexual nature.
“He told her that people who generally chatted on Badoo expected sex and warned her – and the Crown do say this in inverted commas – ‘to be careful’.”
In other conversations Briley commented on the user’s attractiveness, and described various different sexual acts in graphic language.
He asked to meet her at a supermarket in Whitehaven on July 28 and drove to meet her there in his van.
“Police officers were waiting for him at the supermarket and he was arrested,” Mr Evans added.
He had previously pleaded guilty to a charge of going to a place and attempting to engage a child under 16 years old after grooming.
When interviewed, Briley claimed he had not intended for there to be any sexual activity between him and the girl.
Greg Hoare, defending, said: “He felt that probably once he had seen and realised the youth of the young lady he was expecting to meet, he would have gone back, but that is putting a high premium on self-control.”
Judge Peter Davies said: “I have no doubt and I do not suspect anyone else would have any doubt, looking at the emails and exchanges, that your purpose was sexual activity.”
He pointed out that Briley had been in custody since his arrest and guidelines meant the largest amount of extra jail time he could serve was around three months.
“That’s not going to do anybody any good at all,” the judge added.
He sentenced Briley to a three-year community order and ordered him to take part in programmes to help him deal with his behaviour.
Briley also had to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register and was made subject to a 10-year Sexual Offences Prevention Order.
After the case, Temporary Superintendent Rob O’Connor said: “More and more children have access to social media sites and online chatrooms and often are unsupervised. While these sites can provide entertainment and a way for young people to chat to their friends, they can also cause problems. I would encourage all parents to become familiar with these sites and be aware of the potential risks associated with them.”
Anyone with any concerns can contact police on 101.
