SNARED IN PAEDO STING
Care home boss caught after vigilantes set up meeting with ‘boy,14’... but he could still keep job
A Sunderland care home manager could keep his job despite admitting he attempted to meet an underage boy for sex.
Liam Evis Barnett had been chatting to someone he knew as 14-year-old “Ryan” on gay dating app Grindr, Sunderland magistrates heard.
However, the 29-yearold – described in court as a valued member of staff by his bosses – had been communicating with a fake profile set up by vigilante group Guardians of the North.
When Barnett, formerly of Tunstall Terrace, Sunderland, set up a meeting with “Ryan” at his home, the court heard he was instead confronted by members of the group, who informed police.
Prosecutor Angela Narey said: “Mr Barnett is a 29-year-old, from Sunderland, who was involved in talking to a 14-year-old called Ryan.
“However, it was a pro- file set up by an organisation called Guardians of the North, an internet-based group formed to identify and apprehend individuals who make contact with fake profiles of underage children.”
Miss Narey said the group also set up a profile for Ryan using the same picture on messenger service Kik.
She said: “Mr Barnett made contact through Grindr with Ryan, who disclosed hewas14.
“The conversations continued to the point where Mr Barnett invited Ryan to his home address.
“Instead, three individuals from Guardians of the North turned up outside.”
The group called police and handed over chat logs of Barnett’s conversations with ‘Ryan’.
Barnett, who gave his address in court as Glencairn Grove, in Hartlepool, pleaded guilty to a charge between September 19 and October 6, last year, of attempting to cause a male aged 13 or over to engage in penetrative sexual activity, by explicit conversation, not reasonably believing they were aged over 16.
Cheryl Ford, defending, said: ““He had a strong suspicion that the person he had been communicating with was a fake profile.
“He thought it was an older man who wanted him to carry out his own sexual fantasies.
“Fortunately, he conveyed information to his manager – the owner of the business – who put safeguards in place, and he will retain that position with this company, provided he doesn’t go to prison, because she values him so much.”
The bench asked for a pre-sentence report to be prepared by the Probation Service, with all options open, including custody.
Barnett will be sentenced at South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court on March 21.