A man has been given a suspended jail sentence after chatting sexually online to someone he thought was a 14-year-old schoolgirl.
And the offence has also cost 57-year-old Colin Pollard his wife and his home.
Leeds Crown Court heard in fact behind the ‘hotgirl’ username was Pollard who was posing as a teenager to see what response he got.
The police in West Yorkshire were subsequently informed of the content of the chat with Pollard and that led to his arrest on April 25 last year.
Andrew Stranex, prosecuting, said Pollard made contact with the “girl” on December 19, 2015 and during their chat “she” said she was 14. Pollard told her he was 49, which was younger than his actual age.
He said it was also up to her whether she continued chatting with him knowing his age. The conversation did continue and Pollard told her: “I may be looking for some fun.”
They discussed her experience of kissing and he asked for a description of her. They also discussed meeting up and the clothing she might wear, suggesting a hotel or Travelodge.
Mr Stranex said there was a discussion about Pollard’s penis and whether the “girl” had “done it” and he asked if she would bring condoms.
He said, however, by the end of the chat Pollard had back-tracked on the idea of meeting the girl saying if they did it was “not for sex.”
When he was arrested he could not recall the chat and said: “It must just have been banter” and said he would not have carried through a meeting.
Rukhshanda Hussain, representing Pollard, said he accepted some sexual interest at the time of the chat but had indicated he did not want sex with her, adding: “He said ‘No’ to that on two occasions.”
She said he had worked all his life until a heart attack in 2008 and turned to chat rooms for something to do only when he could no longer work. He had no intention of seeking out children who were under-age but just chatted to anyone.
She told the court all his computer devices had been examined and nothing of a similar nature had been found – this was a one-off incident. As a result of the case he had lost his wife and home and was now even lonelier than before.
Pollard, of Lees Hall Road, Thornhill Lees, Dewsbury, admitted attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming and was given a 12 month prison sentence suspended for two years with 60 rehabilitation activity days.
