A 48-year-old man, Bushey Paedophile Peter McCann was given over three years of imprisonment following his capture in a paedophile sting operation.
Peter McCann, residing on Pinfold Road in Bushey, was apprehended in Watford on November 5 for attempting to entice a minor into sexual conduct.
On Monday, June 19, Peter McCann was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison at St Albans Crown Court.
The volunteer organisation Innocent Voices conducted a sting operation upon the receipt of an evidence file containing messages exchanged with an adult “decoy” from another team.
Peter McCann was subsequently apprehended by the group and arrested by Hertfordshire police on Park Avenue, Bushey.
Peter McCann pleaded guilty to engaging in sexual communication with a child and attempting to incite a child into sexual activity on December 19, 2022.
Peter McCann was also sentenced over making indecent photographs/pseudo-photographs of a child for an overall sentence of 45 months imprisonment.
A sexual harm prevention order was made and he was added to the sex offenders register, both indefinitely.
The indecent images fell under categories B and C, meaning images involving non-penetrative sexual activity and not involving sexual activity respectively.
Izzy Hunter, from Innocent Voices, said her team were “really happy” to see a prison sentence in the case.
The Hertfordshire resident said: “I’m glad it was dealt with relatively quickly but also that it was a prison sentence.
“Only with that is there really a deterrent. The sentences are getting more serious, more prison sentences and less suspended sentences, which are not really a deterrence as they carry on their lives as normal.
“I’m also really happy that he is indefinitely on the register as that will always be around with him.”
She added that it is often a “postcode lottery” whether people caught in similar stings are bailed or remanded, as well as whether the cases are dealt with quickly or drag on for years without sentences or restrictions.
Hertfordshire police is usually one of the more proactive forces, she added.
Mrs Hunter is involved in dealing with an offender once a week, on average, and said the amount of people attempting these crimes online is “non-stop”.
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