CAUGHT – THANKS TO PAEDOPHILE HUNTERS
MUCH has been said about so called paedophile hunter groups – in praise and in criticism – but there continues to be a number or prosecutions off the back of these groups’ activities.
The work of the groups is controversial – some accuse them of being unregulated vigilantes whose work could put prosecutions at risk, while others praise them for helping to keep children safe.
Usually the members of the group will arrange a meeting between the “child” – a group member posing as a youngster in online chats – and their target and then confront them. Typically the members of the group will then detain their target until police arrive.
There are estimated to be more than 70 hunter groups operating across Britain.
Here are just some of the defendants who have appeared in Welsh courts over recent years after being stung by paedophile hunter groups.
CHRISTOPHER GAMLIN
Christopher Gamlin, 50, was caught after a member of Keeping Kids Safe posed as a child on the Say Hi chat site.
Gamlin, of Newport Road in Cardiff, asked the person he believed to be a teenage girl to send him photographs of her breasts and sent her explicit pictures of himself. He also made plans to meet her at a cinema and for them to have sex in a park.
But he was caught when members of Keeping Kids Safe travelled from Mansfield in Nottinghamshire to Gamlin’s home in Cardiff to confront him and detain him until police arrived. Gamlin was jailed for 21 months at Cardiff Crown Court on December 12, 2017.
BARRY HABBERLEY
Barry Habberley from Swansea spent months communicating with someone he thought was a young girl, including asking her for sex and sending her indecent photographs.
But the 55-year-old was actually talking to a man from the Welsh division of the group One Reason, who was pretending to be a Barnsley schoolgirl.
He made requests for sex, told her he loved her, asked whether her periods had started, and said he would drive to Yorkshire to meet her.
Habberley was jailed for 20 months at Swansea Crown Court on June 29, 2018.
RYAN GRIFFITHS
Ryan Mark Griffiths started talking to a girl on Facebook messenger, with the conversation quickly turning sexual despite the girl telling him she was just 13.
Swansea Crown Court heard the girl didn’t exist and was a decoy set up by paedophile hunter group PH Balance. Members of the group went to confront Griffiths at Amazon in Swansea where he worked.
They then contacted police, who took his mobile phone and searched his home, but Griffiths claimed his Facebook account had been hacked.
But after that court appearance, and while on bail, Griffiths contacted another girl on an app for young teenagers.
The girl told Griffiths she was 12 years old, but she was again a decoy – this time by another paedophile hunter group called Phoenix Predator Hunters.
He was jailed for 18 months on September 29, 2019.
STEVEN BAKER
Chef Steven Baker was caught trying to meet up with a 13-year-old girl just a year after he was jailed for the same offence.
The 54-year-old, of Cardiff, was jailed for eight months in 2018 after sending sexual messages to someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl after messaging her on a chatroom.
He was in fact talking to a member of paedophile hunter group One Reason who had set up a decoy account.
Baker was confronted at his then place of work at the Deri Inn in Rhiwbina, where he was arrested.
But Baker was caught again by members of the groups KKS, Angels of Innocence and Dank Dragon. He had arranged to meet with another decoy, whom he believed to be 13 and travelling from London at Cardiff Central train station, but failed to turn up.
The defendant was jailed for 28 months at Cardiff Crown Court on November 6, 2019.
GARETH WELCH
Gareth Welch, 44, contacted a young girl’s Facebook profile and was immediately told she was 12 years old, but he asked her to be his girlfriend and if she wanted to have sex with him.
When confronted by members of paedophile hunter group Our Team, Welch initially denied knowing the girl – who turned out to be a decoy – was 12 years old. But live stream footage of the defendant later showed him admitting to knowing the girl’s age.
The defendant was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment at Cardiff Crown Court on January 27, 2020.
GRAHAM STYLES
Graham Styles spent months engaging in disgusting sexual communications with what he believed were schoolgirls, a court heard.
The long-distance lorry driver used a number of different online identities as he chatted with seven “girls” aged between 12 and 14. He also sent his targets instructions on how to perform sex acts on themselves.
But Cardiff Crown Court heard 58-year-old Styles was in fact messaging “decoys”. He was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment on July 3, 2020.
DANIEL HALFORD
Daniel Halford asked a Facebook user he believed to be a 12-year-old girl
whether she had a boyfriend requested naked photos of her.
The 39-year-old also asked the “girl” about her bra size and offered to teach her about kissing. The girl was actually a decoy from a paedophile hunter group called Innocent Voices.
Halford, of Bettws, Newport, was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, at Cardiff Crown Court on July 20, 2020.
ELVIS PRESLEY
and
Elvis Aron Presley Jr arranged to meet what he thought was a 14-year-old girl for sex after grooming her online, a court heard.
The 55-year-old had spent the previous fortnight sending a series of explicit messages to the girl in which he encouraged her to perform sex acts on herself and to send him a pair of her used and unwashed underwear.
But when the convicted sex offender turned up for the arranged meeting he found himself detained by members of a paedophile hunter group.
The defendant of Carmarthen was jailed for 27 months at Swansea Crown Court on February 5 this year.