A sexual predator is waking up behind bars after being caught in a police sting.
Calum Fairclough, 26, used the online name "Mistressmeg2000" to lure in what he thought was a young girl and offered to "help her work out whether she liked boys or girls" before sending images of his private parts. He asked her to send him pictures of her breasts, and when she refused, he threatened to "post her pictures all over the internet and send them to her mum."
He had no idea that the supposed 12-year-old, known as "Emma", was in fact an undercover police officer.
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Police had set up the decoy profile on a lesbian chat website with the aim of identifying people who preyed on children online. The profile was contacted by Fairclough, asking if she wanted to be his "submissive little girl".
He was arrested at his home on Quigley Avenue, Netherton, on June 28 2021. His bedroom was searched and his mobile phone and iPad were seized by police.
Some 289 illegal pictures and videos of children were found on his phone, including some in the most serious category A, and 64 on his iPad. These included 243 indecent images of a teenage girl known to Fairclough.
He appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on August 21, where he pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent photographs of children, possession of indecent photographs of children, two counts of taking an indecent photograph of a child (categories A and C), attempted blackmail, attempted sexual communication with a child, and attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act.
He was jailed for a total of four years, and will remain on the sex offenders register indefinitely.
Detective Inspector Victoria Tinsley said: “Following a long investigation Fairclough was charged with a string of offences which demonstrated him as a sexual predator, and now he is behind bars and can no longer cause harm to children
“Merseyside Police is completely committed to stopping the possession and distribution of indecent images and, ultimately protecting children from sexual abuse and those who seek to do them harm.
“We hope that he will now reflect on the consequences of his utterly depraved actions while serving his jail time.
“We have specialist officers within our Online Child Abuse Investigations team who are dedicated to investigating these crimes, bringing those responsible before the courts and ultimately protecting young people from unimaginable suffering.
“Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to stress that if you have experienced any form of sexual abuse, or know of a child being abused, please come forward and report this to police.
“We take all such reports extremely seriously and if you can find the courage to come forward and speak to us we have specially trained officers who will treat you with sensitivity and compassion.”
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