Locations
Winlaton, Blaydon-On-Tyne, Tyne And Wear, NE21
Description
Convicted paedophile snared by TWO vigilante groups after trying to groom both their decoy 'teenage girls' online is sent back to jail for seven years
This is the moment a pervert tells two paedophile hunting groups he is already a convicted sex offender as they snare him for grooming teen girls online.
Charles David Wigham has been sent back to prison after chatting to decoy profiles from both vigilante groups Dark Justice and Guardians of the North.
They turned up at his house where they filmed their confrontation with the 30-year-old before he was arrested by police.
At Newcastle Crown Court he was handed a seven year extended prison sentence after pleading guilty to attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity, attempting to engage a child in sexual communication, attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act and breach of a sexual offences prevention order.
In chat logs revealed by the vigilante groups, Wigham, who thought he was speaking to three girls aged 13 and 14, sent graphic pictures as well as links to an explicit porn website.
He also asked the girls 'do you watch porn?' and called them 'baby'.
However, Wigham, of Winlaton, Blaydon on Tyne, was shocked when he realised that he was actually speaking to paedophile hunters.
When he was confronted he admitted to the two groups he was already a convicted sex offender.
He told them he had spent around 20 months in prison after having sex with a 14 year-old girl who he groomed over Facebook.
He also told them that he had to sign the sex offenders register for life.
A member of Dark Justice said: 'We didn't know that he had been convicted before.
'It wasn't until he told us when we got there that we found out that he was a convicted sex offender.
'It just shows that even if these people have been convicted they may go back online again. They can not always be rehabilitated.
'The day after we caught him he was supposed to be going to sign the sex offenders register. How long had he had that phone for?
'Changes need to be made - it wouldn't take long for his phone to be checked and for probation officers to realise something was going on.
'It is too relaxed and easy for these offenders.'
On the footage which captures the moment Wigham was snared, he admits that last time he was snared when the child's mother read the messages and reported him to the police.
The Dark Justice member added: 'He was speaking to decoys from both teams so we decided to go after him together.
'His parents were there and they were completely mortified by their son's actions.
'They were saying that he usually has to go to the library to use the internet - but they didn't know that he had a secret phone.'