Man claimed to be 18 in bid to groom ‘teen girls’

A PAEDOPHILE messaged who he believed to be two teenage girls, sent pictures of himself naked and asked to speak to them over video calls.

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He was in fact talking to decoys, but continued to attempt to speak to children online after he was first arrested.

Gerald Thomas, 42, of Dinas Powys, Vale of Glamorgan, first contacted a decoy account on social media on January 13 last year, and she told him she was 14 years old. He told the decoy he was “too old for her’, but went on to ask for a photograph.

A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court heard the conversation became sexual in nature and the defendant asked for a picture of her and to speak to her on a video call.