A NORTH Cumbrian man has been jailed after online paedophile hunters caught him encouraging a person be believed was a 14-year-old girl to perform sex acts.

Over ten days in 2022, Richard Johnston, 43, was involved in online sexualised conversations with the female, believing that the "child" was “home alone” in Newcastle because her mother was out of the house at work.

He also gave her instructions about how she should perform sex acts on herself, Carlisle Crown Court heard.

The defendant, of Fell View, Anthorn, admitted attempting to sexually communicate with a child and attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity.

The court heard that Johnston became aware of the Facebook profile of a "girl" who stated her age clearly, explaining that she was from Newcastle.

As he passed sentence, Judge Nicholas Barker told Johnston: “She told you she was 14. She told you she was at home on her own. This was taking place at 9pm.”

The decoy – a volunteer with a paedophile hunter group – also told the defendant she had no father.  At some stage in the conversations, Johnston switched to using an encrypted online platform perceived to be more secure.

The defendant's messages demonstrated “classic grooming” behaviour, said Judge Barker. Johnston complimented the “teenager,” telling her she was “beautiful” and seeking to win her trust.

“Of course, the reason you did that was so you were able to engage sexually, and she would not push you away," the Judge told Johnston.

"You quite quickly moved on to sexual discussions about kissing boys and sexual desire.” Following this, said the judge, Johnston asked the “girl” intimate sexual questions.

He described how she could perform sex acts. He also asked the girl for images but not of a sexual nature.

Judge Barker said: “That communication demonstrates to me that from the outset you were motivated by an unhealthy, indecent, and grossly inappropriate sexual desire to engage with what you believed was a 14-year-old girl."

Johnson initially denied any wrongdoing.

When he had his Probation Service interview, he denied that he had got any sexual gratification from his contact with the “girl” – a claim that was viewed with incredulity by the probation officer involved. Given that claim, said Judge Barker, it hard to accept that Johnston was genuinely remorseful.

“I am sure you regret the impact this will have on others you are closely connected to,” continued the judge, “but your remorse perhaps is limited.”

Marion Weir, defending, described Johnston as being isolated when he turned his attention to the internet during the ten days when he committed the offences.

With the offences now two years old, references described a man who was significantly different to the Johnston as he was when he offended.

“This offending is out of character for this defendant,” said Miss Weir.

Johnston’s only previous conviction was for driving with excess alcohol. He now faced significant medical issues, chief among them being a diagnosis of “end-stage liver cirrhosis.”  The defendant was currently being assessed for a liver transplant.

“The last two years have served as punishment,” added Miss Weir.

Judge Barker said accepted that the defendant’s poor health would make a jail sentence harder to bear but said that appropriate punishment could be achieved only by an immediate jail term. He imposed a 27-month sentence.

Johnston will serve half that term before his likely release on licence.

He was also put on the Sex Offender Register for a decade and given a sexual harm prevention order which will run for the same period.

The organisation behind the "sting" operation that led to the prosecution of Johnston was the Midlands-based Children's Innocence Matters (CIMS).