Sunderland man sent intimate pictures of himself to '13-year-old girl' and discussed travelling 130 miles to meet her

David Pick thought he was chatting to a 13-year-old girl over social media site UK Social but had been duped by an organisation called Secrets and Lies, who were behind the fake internet profile.

During the shocking exchange Pick discussed travelling from his home in Sunderland, to Preston, Lancashire, to meet the girl.

Newcastle Crown Court heard at the time of the conversations, which quickly turned sexual, Pick was already a registered sex offender and subject to a sexual harm prevention order after being caught in similar circumstances by a different group in 2018.

Prosecutor Omar Ahmad said it was in February this year Pick contacted the fake profile of Charlotte, which displayed the age of 18.

Mr Ahmad told the court: "The decoy, in one of the first messages, told the defendant her age was actually 13, not 18.

"Despite this, the defendant was not perturbed and started sending sexual messages."

The court heard Pick asked for explicit photographs and sent two images of his private parts.

Mr Ahmad added: "He discussed the possibility of travelling from Sunderland to Preston, where she was said to live, to meet up."

Pick was arrested at his home and had deleted messages in the conversation from his phone, which was a breach of his sexual harm prevention order.

Pick, 63, of Derwent Street, Easington Lane, Sunderland, admitted attempting to have sexual communication with a child and breach of a sexual harm prevention order.

Mr recorder Jonathan Sandiford KC sentenced him to 20 months behind bars.

Pick must sign the sex offenders register and abide by a sexual harm prevention order for ten years.

The judge told him of the serious nature of his crimes.

He said: "You spoke about travelling from Sunderland to Preston in order to meet up, a man of 63 proposing to meet a child 50 years your junior, who you believed was 13."

Martin Scarborough, defending, said Pick suffers from physical and mental health issues.