A deviant, Connor Grant Runcorn Paedophile, believed he was engaging in inappropriate sexual conversations with a 13-year-old girl until paedophile hunters arrived at his residence.
Connor Grant transmitted immoral sexual dialogues, aspirations, images, and videos to an individual he presumed to be a young adolescent female.
The account was, however, managed by an individual affiliated with a paedophile hunter organisation dedicated to identifying internet child sex offenders.
The 27-year-old, currently residing in Runcorn, but who perpetrated the acts in Warrington, has been incarcerated for his reprehensible conduct.
Connor Grant appeared at Chester Crown Court on Friday to receive sentencing for attempted sexual communication with a minor.
The court was informed that, between August 20 and 21 of the previous year, the defendant had sent direct messages to an account he presumed belonged to a 13-year-old girl.
Unbeknownst to Connor Grant, this account was a deceptive profile operated by an adult masquerading as a child.
Following their initial interaction on Facebook Messenger, the ‘girl’ informed Grant that she was 13 years old. He replied, “Damn, you are young,” and informed her that he was 27 years old.
Connor Grant supplied her with his phone number and enquired whether they could converse on WhatsApp, apprehensive that his account was under surveillance by social services.
The conversation on WhatsApp rapidly escalated to a sexual nature, included the transmission of obscene photographs and videos.
The ‘kid’ explicitly indicated her minority, however this did not deter Connor Grant from elaborating on sexual intercourse in graphic detail.
He also transmitted explicit films and photographs of sexual activity, providing explanations of the events depicted.
Connor Grant subsequently solicited photographs of her, despite asserting that anybody who engage in sexual intercourse with anyone under the age of 16 may face severe legal consequences and be placed on the sex offenders registry for life.
Notwithstanding this, he persisted in transmitting sexually graphic films and photographs to her.
Throughout this conversation, Connor Grant repeatedly requested that the girl delete the chats that had been recorded between them and asked whether her parents had gone through her phone.
His behaviour finally came to an end on August 21, when officers received a phone call from a paedophile hunter group telling them they were outside of his then-home in Latchford and were going to confront him.
Two officers attended the scene and found the group outside with Grant, who was initially calm, but after being told he was going to be placed in handcuffs, he became aggressive.
Connor Grant, refusing to be handcuffed, lashed out at officers, who used their incapacitant spray.
This resulted in the officers being injured by the spray itself, but they eventually secured him and took him into custody.
Following Connor Grant’s arrest, officers seized a number of digital devices from his home, including mobile phones, game consoles and laptops with hard drives.
Subsequent enquiries would reveal that the messages sent on both Facebook and WhatsApp were linked to his devices.
During his interview, he answered no comment to all questions put to him regarding sexual communications with the child.
Appearing in court, Connor Grant, now of Leaside in Runcorn, was sentenced to two years in prison, to be served immediately, and handed a 10-year sexual harm prevention order.
The sentence handed down by the court was welcomed by DC Becky Warburton, of Cheshire Police’s protecting vulnerable people unit.
She said: “Connor Grant, by his own admission, was most definitely aware that what he was doing was wrong, and he was only out to satisfy his own warped sexual desires.
“While in this instance there was no direct victim involved, Grant’s conviction means that we have taken a dangerous paedophile, who was intent on using the internet and social media to sexually exploit vulnerable people, off of the streets.
“Not only this, but following his release from prison, Connor Grant will be continually monitored by our officers under a sexual harm prevention order to ensure that he does not reoffend.
“We are committed to pursuing and bringing to justice those who engage in online child sexual exploitation and play a part in the sexual abuse of children.
“I hope that the sentence that has been handed to Connor Grant deters others from committing similar offences.”
To report any sexual offence, call Cheshire Police on 101, or always 999 in an emergency, or visit cheshire.police.uk/ro/report
Information can also be passed anonymously by calling Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
If you or anyone you know have been affected by the people highlighted in this article, then please report those individuals to the Police on 101 (999 if an emergency) or visit their online resources for further details of the options for reporting a crime. You can also make a report at Crimestoppers should you wish to be completely anonymous. There is help available on our support links page.