In 2026, a 52-year-old child sex offender from Middlesbrough was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment at Teesside Crown Court after being ensnared by two separate decoy operations while on police bail.
Adam Scott appeared before the court on 20 May 2026 having entered guilty pleas to an indictment containing six offences, including attempting to engage a child in sexual communication and possession of extreme pornography.
Prosecutor Nigel Soppitt outlined that Cleveland Police officers attended Scott’s residential address on 26 September 2025 after intelligence revealed he was engaging in illicit sexual communications online. Digital forensics revealed Scott had targeted a profile on the chatroom service Chatib depicting a 12-year-old girl, operated by undercover operatives. Across several days, Scott sent continuous sexual messages, offering to instruct the child in sexual acts and making disturbing comments about causing her physical pain.
Scott was taken into custody and subsequently released under investigation. However, rather than desisting, he promptly acquired a new mobile phone and returned to Chatib in February to resume his behaviour.
On this second occasion, Scott engaged with an online decoy account portraying a 14-year-old girl. Over a period exceeding a week, Scott flooded the profile with sexually explicit text messages and photographs, offering to purchase food and takeaways in exchange for engaging in sexual acts.
Subsequent examinations of Scott’s phone by digital forensic specialists also uncovered an extreme pornographic image depicting a woman and an animal.
Passing sentence, the Crown Court judge addressed Scott’s blatant disregard for bail conditions and his persistent attempts to target vulnerable young victims online, imposing an immediate custodial term of six years’ imprisonment.
In addition to the custodial sentence, the court made Scott subject to a comprehensive Sexual Harm Prevention Order with strict digital monitoring provisions and ordered his indefinite registration on the Sex Offenders Register for the rest of his life.
Image – Anonymous Artist Impression
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