John Paul Williamson, a 28-year-old man from Durham, was sentenced at Durham Crown Court for a series of online sexual offences targeting individuals he believed to be underage girls. The case, reported by The Northern Echo, highlights Williamson's persistent attempts to engage in sexual communication with children via chat applications, despite prior police intervention.
In late March 2022, Williamson initiated contact on a chat app with a profile named 'Holly', operated by a police decoy posing as a 12-year-old girl. Introducing himself as a 26-year-old man, Williamson quickly steered the conversation towards sexual topics. Prosecutor Paul Newcombe detailed how Williamson requested images from the decoy, sent explicit photos of himself, and asked if she liked older men or wanted to see more. Despite the decoy's innocent responses, Williamson persisted, sending five further requests for pictures. He was arrested in April 2022 and interviewed but provided no comment, leading to his release under investigation.
- Following his release, Williamson committed similar offences, engaging in sexualised chats with three other police decoys posing as 13-year-old girls.
- In these exchanges, he suggested sexual activities and repeatedly solicited photos from the decoys.
- Police discovered 71 indecent images of children on his devices, including the most serious category featuring abuse of children as young as five, alongside two images of extreme pornography involving bestiality.
Williamson was re-arrested in January 2023. During questioning, he denied using the chat app and fabricated a story blaming a non-existent cousin, which was quickly debunked. He pleaded guilty to four counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, three counts of possessing indecent images of a child, and two counts of possession of extreme pornography. Additionally, he requested that 20 further charges of attempted sexual communication with a child be taken into consideration, all involving police decoys.
Defence barrister Robin Patton described Williamson as a 'sad and inadequate figure' of previous good character, who had been employed until remanded in custody for six months prior to sentencing. Patton noted that Williamson never met any real children and would face lifelong monitoring by the sex offenders’ management unit and Probation Service upon release, due to his deep-seated sense of inadequacy.
Judge Geoffrey Marson characterised the offences as 'a catalogue of persistent and serious offending', emphasising Williamson's belief that the girls were real and aged 12 or 13. The judge stated, 'It’s perfectly clear you have a sexual interest in children, which, at the moment, you are unable to control.' He highlighted the aggravating factors, including Williamson's persistence after his April 2022 arrest and the solicitation of images, describing the attempts as 'among the worst I have ever come across.' Despite no real children being harmed, the judge imposed a three-year prison sentence, with up to half served in custody before release on licence. Williamson was also made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and sex offender registration, both indefinite, along with a forfeiture and destruction order for the seized devices.
The investigation was conducted by Durham Constabulary, underscoring the role of online decoy operations in preventing child sexual exploitation.