John Gibson, A Hartlepool Paedophile deviant boozer, scheduled a meeting with someone he believed to be a schoolgirl after soliciting her for sexual favours.
John Gibson from Hartlepool initiated a conversation with the ‘girl’ on Facebook on July 15 following submitting a friend request. Teesside Crown Court was informed that the individual said she was under 16. Nevertheless, Gibson persisted in the communication, and they exchanged images.
Prosecutor Cole Cockburn said John Gibson asked the ‘girl’ for indecent images and, in another conversation, asked if they could “make love”.
Mr Cockburn said: “John Gibson told her where he lived, and the pair exchanged photographs. Mr Gibson told her she looked young, and she told him her age.
“John Gibson repeatedly expressed his love for her and asked her to send him photos of her in various states of undress. He requested pictures in her school uniform and her bra and underwear. When she refused, he taunted her, saying she was playing games.”
The court heard the 53-year-old, John Gibson, even arranged to meet the “child” and on July 31 said he’d meet her at King’s Cross in London. Mr Cockburn added: “He asked her if they could make love in his words. He assured her he’d be gentle.”
The Middlesbrough court heard shortly after police arrested the defendant and John Gibson discovered he had been talking to an undercover police officer posing as a child. He pleaded guilty to attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and two charges of breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
In mitigation, his barrister, Jonathan Gittins, said the defendant admitted the offences immediately and apologised to the court for his actions. He added: “He is an alcoholic; he regularly consumes a bottle of spirits in addition to cans.
“He lives alone and is quite an isolated, lonely individual. He’d recently moved to Hartlepool and had no support network; he lived on a mattress in his bedroom.”
The court heard the defendant worked all his life up until 2021, when he witnessed a “traumatic” incident, began drinking, and became a paedophile even though years before, he had been convicted for similar sexual offences against a child. The court heard he started offending at this time and had no convictions before this.
The Marlborough Street defendant is on remand at HMP Durham and has been engaging with the Drug and Alcohol Recovery Team (DART) team and education programmes. Recorder Aisha Wadoodi said “worryingly” that since 2021, the defendant has been sentenced for a raft of offences of an exact nature.
They include attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and causing a child to watch a sexual act. Recorder Wadoodi sentenced Gibson to 36 months in prison and warned him against reoffending. She said he must get help from what is available to him.
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