Sick Leeds pensioner wanted naked photos of '12-year-old boy' who was an undercover officer

Frail Terence Dawson quizzed the ‘boy’ about masturbation and made explicit requests having contacted him through a chatroom on Chatiw last year.

The 77-year-old spent three weeks sending messages to the account, which had been set up by the officer with an intention to snare paedophiles.

Dawson, of Kineholme Drive, Otley, told the decoy not to tell anyone about their conversations and insisted he delete the messages.

He was eventually arrested on April 14, 2022 and his internet devices seized. He gave no comments during his police interview, prosecutor Daniel Ingham told Leeds Crown Court.

During an earlier appearance in court he admitted attempting to incite a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity. He has no previous convictions.

Mitigating during a sentencing hearing this week, Nicholas Hammond said Dawson was married and both he and his wife were in poor health. He has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), as well as having mobility issues.

Mr Hammond said Dawson had since completed a sex offenders programme off his own back to help address his problems.

Judge Simon Batiste said there was a “realistic prospect of rehabilitation” and added: “The inevitable prison sentence can just about be suspended in this case.”

He jailed him for 20 months, suspended for two years, told him to sign the sex offenders register for 10 years and given a 10-year sexual harm prevention order to limit his internet use.