Freed child rapist spared jail for vile messages to ‘boy’
AMAN who served time for raping a six-year-old girl has escaped another prison sentence after he was caught making lewd suggestions to paedophile hunters posing as a 15-year-old from Rochdale.
Steven Gibson, now 31, from Oldham, walked into a police station in 2017 and admitted he had raped a child in Denbighshire, north Wales, in 2006, when he was 15. In 2019 he was jailed for twoand-a-half years for the crime.
After serving the sentence, it has now emerged that upon his release he went on a dating app where he suggested a ‘child’ - in reality a paedophile hunter posing as a 15-year-old boy - perform a sex act on him. He also sent the ‘child’ a picture of a penis.
Now a judge has handed Gibson a suspended prison sentence, saying he would receive no ‘intervention’ to address his offending if he was sent to jail to serve a short sentence.
The court heard a group of paedophile hunters set up an account purporting to be a boy aged 19 on a dating app called Romeo. But during an online conversation with Gibson the ‘boy’ admitted he was actually aged 15 and from Rochdale.
Gibson at first said he would ‘leave it’ as the boy was below the age of consent but later the same night he sent a message suggesting the boy ‘suck me off’, also sending a picture of a penis, prosecutor Megan Cox told Minshull Street Crown Court on Monday.
The defendant also asked if the “child” had a ‘nice bum’ and urged him to send him a picture of his bottom, the court was told. “I tell you what - you show me that picture of your bum and I will send you something better,” Gibson told the ‘child’.
The group of paedophile hunters contacted police and, when arrested, Gibson refused to answer questions during his interview.
The court heard he had 12 sets of previous convictions for 25 offences including the rape of a child under 13 for which he was given a two-and-ahalf year prison sentence.
Neil Ronan, defending, said his client had “insight” into his crime and that he “needs help”. “He’s somebody who the court may well feel deserves to get the opportunity for that help,” added Mr Ronan, urging the judge to suspend any prison sentence.
He said his client tended to offend ‘when he’s on drugs’ and that if he could get help with that he would ‘no longer be a risk’. He pointed out Gibson had ‘abated’ his use of the dating app at the time.
Judge Matthew Corbettjones told Gibson he had committed a ‘very serious’ offence, adding: “This offence was not in fact committed with a 15-yearold child. You were attempting to communicate with a 15-year-old child but that person actually was a decoy pretending to be a 15-yearold child.”
The judge noted that a pre-sentence report by the Probation Service had concluded there was a low likelihood’ the defendant would offend again but, if he did, there was a ‘medium risk’ that offence would be a serious one.
The judge also said Gibson had showed ‘poor compliance’ with the requirements following his release from prison for the rape offence.
Judge Corbett-jones, however, added that the
defendant would receive no ‘intervention’ to address his offending if he was handed an immediate prison sentence. “This is a sentence which can properly be suspended,” said the judge.
Gibson, of no fixed abode but formerly of Royton in Oldham, was handed a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, after he admitted attempting
to engage in sexual communication with a child in October . He was also ordered to complete drug and sex offender rehabilitation programmes and to complete 20 rehabilitation activity days. He was also made the subject of a ten-year sexual harm prevention order.
Gibson was warned he could be jailed if he failed to comply with the orders.