A 26-year-old man from Warrington, George Brusby, has been imprisoned after attempting to meet a supposed 13-year-old girl for sexual purposes. The case came to light through the efforts of the Elusive Child Protection Unit, a paedophile hunter group that uses decoy profiles to expose individuals seeking to exploit children online.
The offending began on 7 January 2023, when Brusby messaged a profile on the dating site Jaomo, operated by a group member pretending to be a 13-year-old girl named Abbie. Despite the profile initially stating an age of 22 to comply with site restrictions, the decoy immediately clarified in conversations that she was 13 years old. Brusby, undeterred, initiated contact with the message: 'Hi there beautiful, can I just say you look absolutely stunning.' After a brief pause, daily chats resumed in February 2023, with Brusby revealing he was 25, from Warrington, and a former military serviceman.
- By mid-February, the conversations moved to WhatsApp, where Brusby sent explicit photos, including one of his penis, suggesting the 'girl' could 'play with it'.
- He assured her: 'I promise I’m not a bad person,' despite her stated age.
- Messages were set to auto-delete on his device, but the decoy preserved them via screenshots.
Discussions escalated to planning a meeting at Brusby's home in Warrington on 26 February 2023. He sent his address and instructed her to take a taxi from the train station, promising she could 'hold her first d**k'. Instead of the child, members of the Elusive Child Protection Unit arrived, confronting and interrogating Brusby, which was live-streamed online. Cheshire Police were called, arresting him at the scene and transporting him in a police van.
During police interviews, Brusby initially denied knowledge, claiming he was 'fed up of fake accounts', then asserted he believed he was speaking to an adult. He later refused to comment. Represented by barrister Mark Pritchard at Liverpool Crown Court, Brusby pleaded guilty to attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity and arranging the commission of a child sex offence. Pritchard argued for a suspended sentence, citing Brusby's lack of prior convictions, remorse, military background, post-service struggles with alcohol and relationships, and the fact no real child was involved. He criticised the hunter group's live-streaming as 'shame and bear baiting'.
Judge Katherine Pierpoint rejected suspension, stating: 'You told the author of your pre-sentence report that you do not have a sexual interest in children, but in my judgement, you clearly have a sexual interest in children. Such behaviour has a devastating and long-lasting impact on children, and the fact that no real child was harmed in this case is a matter of chance rather than design.' Brusby arrived late to sentencing on Tuesday, attributing it to a panic attack after missing his train. He received 27 months' immediate imprisonment, was ordered to sign the sex offenders' register for 10 years, and comply with a sexual harm prevention order for the same period.
The case, reported by the Warrington Guardian and sourced from Liverpool Crown Court proceedings, underscores the role of vigilante groups in identifying potential child sex offenders, though the judge noted the criminal justice system does not endorse vigilantism.