A 61-year-old man from West Sussex has been sentenced to 19 months’ imprisonment at Southend Crown Court after being convicted of attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming, having constructed an elaborate false online persona to bypass parental safeguards.
Paul Valentine, of Littlehampton, West Sussex, appeared for sentence following a jury trial relating to online communications initiated when he was 57 years old.
The court was told that Valentine added a profile on Facebook that purported to belong to a 13-year-old schoolgirl. The profile was an artificial persona managed by an independent child protection group using AI-generated imagery. Valentine quickly developed an obsession with the profile, saving the image of the supposed girl as his desktop wallpaper and looking at it every night before sleeping.
Across a four-week period, Valentine exchanged approximately 1,500 messages with the account. During these communications, Valentine described the supposed child as his “soul mate,” reserved hotel accommodation, and planned a physical meeting at Rochford railway station with the intent to take her to Southend seafront.
When the decoy raised concerns that her mother would discover the arrangement and stop the meeting, Valentine manufactured an elaborate deception. He set up an additional Facebook account posing as a 14-year-old boy. Valentine instructed the supposed schoolgirl to inform her parents that she was meeting the teenage boy, while Valentine would accompany them under the guise of being the teenager’s father.
During trial proceedings, Valentine claimed he suspected the profile was an online financial scammer and asserted that his romantic overtures were deployed as bait, characterising other messages as jokes.
Judge Shane Collery KC firmly dismissed his explanations, ruling that the communications demonstrated clear intent to groom and seduce someone Valentine genuinely believed was a 13-year-old child. A formal pre-sentence assessment by the Probation Service confirmed that Valentine lacked insight into his behaviour, accepted no responsibility, and remained an ongoing high risk to children. The judge observed that Valentine saw nothing wrong with his conduct, warning that rehabilitation would prove exceedingly difficult.
Under the provisions of Section 49 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 and the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1992, all child victims, decoys, and complainants connected to sexual offences and grooming proceedings are protected by automatic, lifelong statutory anonymity. Publishing, broadcasting, or disseminating any details, names, addresses, educational facilities, or photographs capable of leading to public identification is strictly prohibited under UK law.
Valentine was convicted of:
One count of attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming
Passing sentence, Judge Shane Collery KC handed Valentine an immediate custodial term of 19 months’ imprisonment.
Alongside the custodial sentence, the court ordered:
A Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) placing prohibitions on his digital hardware and internet access
Mandatory notification requirements on the Sex Offenders Register under the Sexual Offences Act 2003
Formal post-custody licence supervision conditions upon release from prison
Image – Anonymous Artist Impression
For the latest updates and offender details, follow us on the Offender Database Facebook Page. If you or anyone you know has been affected by the individuals highlighted on this website, please report them to the Police on 101 (999 in an emergency) or visit their online resources for further details on how to report a crime. You can also report to Crimestoppers if you wish to remain completely anonymous. There is help available on our support links page.