Locations
Hart Hill Lane, Luton, LU2
Description
A man has been jailed for four years in connection with child sexual offences.
Patrick Joyce, aged 62, had travelled to meet who he believed to be a 14-year-old boy but was instead arrested at the scene.
On 13 November last year, Joyce travelled to Verulamium Park in St Albans having sent sexual messages to what he believed was the boy’s account on an online website and WhatsApp from the end of October.
When Joyce arrived at the park, he was met by officers who seized a rucksack that was packed with a red thong and lubricant, as well as discovering a small knife in a sheath in his car.
Joyce, of Hart Hill Lane in Luton, was arrested and charged with engaging in sexual communication with a child, arranging/facilitating the commission of a child sexual offence, causing a child to watch a sexual act, and possession of a bladed article in a public place.
He pleaded guilty to all the offences and was jailed at St Albans Crown Court on Thursday 12 March for a total of four years, and also handed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
Detective Constable Tom Campbell, from Hertfordshire Constabulary’s Child Online Safeguarding Team, said:
“While there was no physical victim at the heart of this specific crime, it showed the steps Patrick Joyce would take to meet a child and sexually abuse them.
"Offenders like Joyce undermine trust in online spaces and can fuel wider criminal activity. He is a dangerous individual who is now rightly serving a custodial sentence.”