A teenager snared by a vigilante group as he engaged in lewd online chat with what he thought was a 13-year-old girl has been sentenced by a judge.
Daniel Pearson was publicly “outed” when members of the group called at his Carlisle home and live-streamed a confrontation that attracted more than 70,000 views.
Pearson had just turned 18 when his offending occurred early last year, the city’s crown court was told. He made contact with a person who “immediately” told him they were 13 and had a girl’s profile image — but it proved to be an adult decoy.
Pearson encouraged “her” to send a naked picture, forwarded a lewd photo of himself and suggested their chat become private on WhatsApp.
Members of the Child Online Safety Team then contacted Pearson, visited his home in late May and set up the well-viewed online stream.
Now aged 19, Pearson admitted attempting to cause a child to engage in sexual activity.
The court heard he was a young man of previous good character who had found the public outing “traumatic”. He had demonstrated remorse and was keen to learn from his mistakes, said his lawyer.
Judge Nicholas Barker, who also heard of the teen’s troubled upbringing, imposed a three-year community order. He must take an accredited sex offender treatment course and complete a rehabilitation requirement.
“You were ‘outed’, to use the colloquialism, in a public way,” Judge Barker said as he passed sentence. “It seems, Daniel Pearson, you have yourself to blame for that and nobody else; and public humiliation that is occasioned through an individual’s crime is something that is entirely consequential of your actions. This court has little sympathy for you.”
Pearson must sign the sex offenders’ register for five years.
