Description
A man who sent explicit photos of himself to a child and arranged to meet her in Stafford has been jailed.
Paul Donaldson, 28, of Stafford, was arrested by officers at Stafford train station on 27 November last year when he arranged to meet what he believed to be a teenage girl there.
When we seized his phone, we found that he had been communicating with an online account of a teenage girl. Donaldson asked her for her age, which was 13, but he still persisted in sending an explicit photo of himself and arranging to meet her at the train station, where they would then go to a nearby hotel.
When he was brought into custody, Donaldson answered no comment to our questions. But, we still had all the evidence needed to charge him with a number of offences.
He pleaded guilty at an earlier court hearing to arranging the commission of a child sexual offence, attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and sending a photograph of genitals to cause alarm, distress or humiliation. He was sentenced to two-years-and-six-months in prison at Stafford Crown Court yesterday (Tuesday 10 March).
He was also put on the Sex Offenders Register for life and given a 20-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
Detective Constable Georgina Brotherhood, from our police online investigations team (POLIT), said:
“Donaldson was persistent in his pursuit of this person and has rightfully been brought to justice for his actions.
“We’re working extremely hard every single day in Staffordshire to build and action intelligence against those who pose a risk to children and vulnerable people in our communities, and this is another example of that.”