In 2021, then 57-year-old Colin Hodge (also known as Bennett), formerly of Wilton Street, Stoke, was jailed for two years and four months after carrying out a predatory series of assaults on the safety of children. The investigation established that Hodge used the dating site Tagged and WhatsApp to groom a person he believed was a 13-year-old girl named “Emma.” The prosecution reported at Plymouth Crown Court, that Hodge was snared by a hunter group after traveling to Plymouth Railway Station to meet the child for sex, identifying a total abandonment of human decency by the then 57-year-old.
The investigation established that Hodge’s series of behaviour involved graphically suggesting penetrative sexual acts and sending images of his penis to the decoy. The prosecution reported that Hodge maintained a “wind-up” and “role-play” defence during his trial, claiming he knew the decoy was an adult all along. This identifies a calculated series of assaults on the life-safety of children, as the jury heard sickening exchanges where the decoy made clear references to being tucked in by her mother and sharing a room with her sister, yet Hodge still travelled to the station to meet her.
STING OPERATION AND JUDICIAL SENTENCING
The court reported that Hodge was cornered in his vehicle by members of the Exeter-based group UK Database before he could even exit his car. The investigation established that the decoy was actually an adult from the group No More Silent Voices, who utilised pre-authorised images of a 13-year-old to test Hodge’s intent. The prosecution reported in 2021, that Judge William Mousley rejected Hodge’s “curiosity” defence, identifying a priority assault by the judiciary to activate a previous suspended sentence for child abuse imagery and return the persistent offender to prison.
Judge-led proceedings at Plymouth Crown Court concluded with Hodge, who later moved to Morecambe, Lancashire, being jailed immediately. For his actions in Plymouth, and across Devon, and the nature of the series of child abuse, online grooming, and breach of trust investigations reported, Colin Hodge was removed from the community. The investigation established that his forensic profile as a recidivist predator who breached a suspended sentence for possessing indecent images is now a matter of permanent record, and he is subject to a decade-long Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).
STATUS AND CASE DETAILS (2017–2021)
Based on judicial and Devon and Cornwall Police records as of 2026:
- Legal Status: CONVICTED (Attempting to meet a child following grooming with intent to commit a sexual offence; Child abuse context; Previously convicted of possessing indecent images in 2017).
- Custodial Status: JAILED (In 2021, sentenced to 2 years and 4 months in prison).
- Offence Nature: Groomed a decoy believing she was a 13-year-old schoolgirl; sent explicit images and suggested penetrative acts; travelled to a railway station for a physical meeting; breached an eight-month suspended sentence for child abuse imagery.
- Timeline of Case: Suspended sentence 2017; Offence committed 12 February 2018; Trial and conviction 2021; Sentenced 2021.
- Location: Plymouth, Devon; Stoke; Morecambe, Lancashire.
- Forensic Profile: Then 57-year-old male; forensic history documents a “persistent and manipulative” predatory intent; identified as an offender who utilised multiple aliases (Bennett) and platforms (Tagged/WhatsApp) to target minors.
- Sex Offenders Register: Notification requirements are active for ten years.
- Judicial Oversight: Presided over by Judge William Mousley at Plymouth Crown Court.
- Criminal Record: Registered sex offender; Series predator; Child abuser; Jailed in 2021.
- Origin: Morecambe.
MONITORING AND PUBLIC PROTECTION
In 2021, Hodge was managed as a maximum-risk predator under the statutory requirements of the Lancashire and Devon MAPPA units. Due to the nature of the behaviour—specifically the series of persistence in seeking a physical meeting with a “13-year-old” despite being under a suspended sentence for similar deviance—he was a priority for a custodial term. Authorities reported that the 2021 sentencing identifies Hodge as an individual who prioritised his own perverted gratification and the “denial” of his predatory nature over the principles of human decency and the life-safety of the public.
As a registered sex offender, his details are permanently logged on the national police database to ensure his future conduct and any digital interaction are strictly scrutinised. Authorities stated that the behaviour of Hodge identifies a commitment to clandestine child abuse and the systematic grooming of minors. His removal to prison in 2021 results in the necessary protection of the community from a man who used a “grandfather” mask to hide a predatory and persistent series of assaults on the innocent.
QUESTION – Given that the offender “utilised his time under a suspended sentence for child abuse images to groom what he believed was a 13-year-old and travel to a railway station for sex,” do you believe the law should legally mandate that “All Individuals Convicted of Grooming Children” must be “Sentenced to Mandatory Whole-Life Digital Monitoring and GPS Tracking” to prevent a series of assaults?
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