A paedophile has been jailed after talking to an undercover officer posing as a child.
Daniel Thomas engaged in explicit conversations with who he believed to be a 13-year-old girl online between 4 May and 27 June this year.
33-year-old, of Westbury, was actually speaking to a specially-trained police officer – despite already being a registered sex offender.
Following a Wiltshire Police investigation, supported by the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit (SWROCU), he was arrested and remanded in custody on 28 June.
He was later charged with engaging in sexual communications with a child, causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and causing a child to watch a sexual act, and for breaching his sexual harm prevention order (SHPO).
The SHPO was imposed at a hearing in 2020, when he was spared jail for similar offending. Prior to that, in 2019 he was jailed for nine months for grooming a 13-year-old.
At Salisbury Crown Court on 1 November, he was sentenced to four years and four months in prison – plus three years on extended licence.
PC Whittaker of the Management of Sexual or Violent Offenders (MOSOVO) unit said: “Thomas is a repeat offender who has persistently targeted children and attempted to engage them in sexual activity.
“Through actively managing his SHPO, we were able to monitor his behaviour and implement a decoy which allowed us to successfully bring this prosecution and protect children from him.”
Detective Inspector David Wells from the Online Investigations Team at SWROCU said: “The repeated attempts by Daniel Thomas to engage young children in sexual activity online show the high level of risk he posed, and the sentence handed down this week reflects that.
“This is challenging but vital work. Law enforcement agencies are across the internet determined to ensure offenders like him don’t succeed in abusing and exploiting children. It is crucial parents and children themselves take steps to protect against the threat.”
