Paedophile jailed after travelling to sexually assault 12-year-old girl in Nottinghamshire
A paedophile who was caught by police when he travelled to Nottinghamshire to sexually assault a 12-year-old girl has been jailed.
Kevin Walsh had unknowingly been chatting to specialist law enforcement officers when he arranged to meet the father of the 'girl' in order to rape her.
Officers arrested Walsh when he arrived at a Nottinghamshire hotel on the meeting date of 11 November 2023.
Specialist search officers seized Walsh's mobile phone and laptop, and analysis of the devices showed he had been offending over a prolonged period.
The 59-year-old, of HMP Nottingham, appeared at Nottingham Crown Court for sentencing on Friday 8 March and was jailed for a total of eight years and eight months.
He had earlier pleaded guilty to seven counts of distributing an indecent photograph of a child, six counts of making an indecent photograph of a child and three counts of attempting to engage in sexual communications with a child.
Walsh also admitted one count of attempting to cause a child to watch an image of sexual activity, one count of arranging the commission of an offence of sexual activity with a child, one count of possessing an extreme image, one count of engaging in sexual communications with a child and one count of attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity.
Detectives discovered Walsh had been active on social media distributing indecent images of children and communicating with adults online about the sexual abuse of children.
During the investigation, it became clear he had also been communicating with a suspect in Wales where he had arranged to drug and rape a young child.
He had also been talking to the mother of a 13-year-old girl in Surrey and looking to arrange travel to meet the girl in order to sexually assault her.
Detective Constable Tom Nuttall, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: "Walsh is a dangerous paedophile who by his own admission poses a serious risk to children.
"As his own messages made clear, he knowingly set out to meet a child for his own sexual gratification.
"For as long as people like him exist in our society, we will carry out this kind of operation to expose and punish them."
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