No jail for man who tried to groom ‘girl’
DARK JUSTICE TRAP PERVERT BY PRETENDING TO BE 15
Court Reporter
A PERVERT jailed after he was snared by paedophile hunters chatting online to what he thought was an underage girl has been caught again – but this time walked free.
Anthony Morgan was on licence from his first offence – in which he tried to meet a 13-year-old for sexual activity – when he engaged in illicit chat with what he thought was a 15-year-old girl on a dating app.
The 54-year-old dad then went on to engage in a conversation with another profile, purporting to be a different 15-year-old girl.
In fact all of the profiles he spoke to were being run by Dark Justice to try to trap anyone seeking to engage illegally with children online.
A court heard Morgan believes Dark Justice should be investigated for using fake social media profiles.
Now, despite admitting a series of new offences and posing a risk of harm to children, Morgan has been spared prison and given a community order so he can take part in a sex offenders treatment course.
Newcastle Crown Court heard it was in June 2017 that he was jailed for 21 months for attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming.
After his release, he was back on Skout and made contact with a profile called Holly, which was being operated by Dark Justice, last December.
Sue Hirst, prosecuting, said: “Dark Justice immediately told the defendant Holly was 15 years old and the defendant continued to send her messages.”
Morgan then made more comments about her breasts and asked if her mother had large breasts.
Miss Hirst added: “He said he was old enough to be her dad and didn’t want to get in trouble.”
He then asked if she was going to send a naked picture and when she didn’t, he ended the conversation.
In July this year, Morgan contacted another girl on Skout, sending her a picture of himself in bed with his arms across the top of his chest. The profile, Becky, whose age on the site was 18, immediately made reference to being at school and told him she was 15.
He told her he could get into a lot of trouble. When she asked why he said: “Because you’re underage on an adult website where there’s a lot of pervy things going on.”
When he was arrested and interviewed by police, Morgan said Dark Justice should be investigated for using fake profiles. The court heard that after chatting to the profiles under his real name of Tony Morgan, he reported them to Skout as being underage users.
Having been released on bail, he
Judge Robert Adams then went back on Skout using a false name of Shaun Mor but Dark Justice recognised his picture.
When Dark Justice sent a message to him from the Becky account, he replied but when told she was 15, he blocked the profile.
However, the paedophile hunters were aware that by using an alias, Morgan was breaching his sex offender notification requirements from the 2017 offence so they contacted police again.
When his phone was examined, it showed he had been on social media platforms using different names which he had not registered with the police, as he was required to do.
Morgan, of Westmorland Avenue, Wallsend, pleaded guilty to attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity, two counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, two offences of breaching his sexual harm prevention order and failing to comply with his notification requirements.
Judge Robert Adams sentenced him to a three-year community order with a requirement he does a
Anthony Morgan, of Shiremoor, has been spared jail this time
sex offender treatment programme.
The judge told him: “You say you are not sexually attracted to children but your guilty pleas incorporate an admission there was such gratification.”
He added: “You pose a high risk of emotional harm, particularly to pubescent children and you are a repeat offender.”
The judge added that the public may be best served by an intense programme designed to stop his offending rather than another prison term, given the last one didn’t deter him.
Morgan will continue to be on the sex offenders register and be subject to the sexual harm prevention order.
Alec Burns, defending, said Morgan had been on an adult website, the conversations did not last long and he had reported the profiles to Skout as being underage afterwards.
Mr Burns added that Morgan has various physical and mental health issues and is remorseful.