A deviant Padiham Paedophile, Brian Sumner, who attempted to provoke an 11-year-old girl into sexual conduct has been sentenced to four and a half years in prison.
Brian Sumner, 61, impersonated a 25-year-old in a teenage chatroom to communicate with ‘Izzy’, who claimed to be 11. However, ‘Izzy’ was actually a paedophile hunter who exposed Sumner and notified the authorities.
Brian Sumner has commenced a prison sentence after confessing to multiple sexual offences involving minors.
Hanifa Patel, for the prosecution, informed Preston Crown Court that the decoy verified her age as 11 throughout explicit conversations with Sumner. He prompted the child to engage in masturbation and broached the subject of a meeting, which ultimately did not occur.
Subsequent to his apprehension, law enforcement scrutinised his mobile device and uncovered explicit photos featuring children as young as five years old. There were 18 category A images, 12 category B images, 160 category C images, two illegal cartoon images, and two severe animal images.
Bob Elias, in defence, stated that Brian Sumner had a prior commendable character, notwithstanding his desire to commit acts of child sexual assault, and would encounter significant challenges in prison. He characterised his client as a “law-abiding white-collar worker” who is introverted and timid in reality but capitulated to the possibility to establish an internet relationship with a child.
“He has walked into a minefield where for many years of his life he is going to be incarcerated for something where there was no real victim”, he said.
Judge Andrew Jeffries KC, sentencing, said: “The reality is that if it hadn’t been a paedophile hunter pretending to be an 11-year-old girl it would have been a real 11-year-old girl, because you have shown by the commission of this offence that you are willing to engage in this sort of behaviour with an 11-year-old child.
“The argument paedophile hunters would make is that by engaging with you they have saved one person from your attention in the way you were engaging with them.”
Brian Sumner, of Stonyhurst Close, Padiham, pleaded guilty to attempted sexual communication with a child, attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity, three counts of making indecent images, possessing prohibited images and possessing extreme images.
Judge Jeffries jailed him for 45 months and made a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO). Brian Sumner will be on the sex offenders register for life.
If you or anyone you know have been affected by the people highlighted in this article, then please report those individuals to the Police on 101 (999 if an emergency) or visit their online resources for further details of the options for reporting a crime. You can also make a report at Crimestoppers should you wish to be completely anonymous. There is help available on our support links page.