Nigel George Websdale, then aged 60, of Amble Road, Callington, Cornwall, has received a suspended prison sentence at Truro Crown Court after admitting to attempting sexual communication with a child following an online operation.
The prosecution arose after the independent internet child protection group Captis Malum established an undercover decoy profile on Facebook in January 2020, presenting as a 14-year-old girl named Sophie who held interests in music, shopping, and animals.
On 18 February 2020, Websdale initiated contact with the decoy profile by submitting a friend request.
During the initial dialogue, it was made explicit to the defendant that the profile belonged to a 14-year-old child.
Although the conversation began with everyday topics, Websdale rapidly steered the messaging into sexually explicit dialogue.
The prosecution detailed that Websdale’s messages were depraved and amounted to calculated grooming.
Websdale actively encouraged the child profile to engage in masturbation and sent an indecent photograph depicting a vagina, telling the child that the image would help her practice.
The communications ceased on 27 February 2020.
Two days later, on 29 February, representatives from Captis Malum travelled to Websdale’s family address in Callington to carry out an in-person confrontation.
Devon and Cornwall Police were called to the scene, taking Websdale into custody and transferring him to Newquay police station.
During his police interview, Websdale attempted to downplay his actions, claiming that he had suspected the profile was a scam or false identity and asserting that he was merely playing along under the belief that the person was over 16 years of age.
The court heard during mitigation that Websdale, previously an individual of good character, had lost his managerial employment as a consequence of the investigation and was working as a part-time cleaner.
Passing sentence, Judge Simon Carr addressed the nature of the offending: “You chose to contact a 14-year-old girl or a person you believed to be a 14-year-old girl on the internet, then over a relatively short period of time – a matter of a couple of weeks – you communicated with her in a way that was highly sexual, including sending an indecent image to her. These conversations are disturbing, particularly disturbing, as you thought it was a 14-year-old girl.”
Judge Carr highlighted that a critical factor in determining the sentence was that Websdale had not attempted to arrange an in-person meeting with the child decoy.
The judge sentenced Websdale to eight months’ imprisonment, suspended for an operational period of two years.
Under the requirements of the suspended sentence order, Websdale was instructed to complete 30 days of rehabilitation activity requirements under the supervision of the Probation Service and pay £750 toward prosecution costs.
The court additionally granted a five-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) and ordered Websdale to comply with the statutory notification requirements of the Sex Offenders Register for a duration of five years.
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