In 2021, just weeks after his release from prison, Sean Stifman, a paedophile, attempted to persuade a 12-year-old girl to engage in sexual intercourse with him.
Sean Stifman, then 31, who was previously residing in Norwich Avenue, Southend, has been sentenced to four years in prison and is required to serve an additional six years on his licence.
Basildon Crown Court was informed that he was conversing with an undercover police officer who was assuming the identity of a minor.
Despite being instructed not to, he was using social media and had a mobile phone.
Nevertheless, he had only been released from prison three weeks before his arrest when he attempted to engage in sexual intercourse with children using a fabricated identity. However, he was instead confronted by paedophile hunters.
To communicate with three individuals whom he believed to be 13 and 14 years old, Stifman assumed the identity of another man named “Robert Austin” on a variety of social media platforms.
He arranged to meet one of the individuals he believed to be a 13-year-old female on one occasion, and the conversations became sexual in nature on each occasion.
Stifman acknowledged the charge of attempting to induce a minor under the age of 15 to engage in sexual intercourse with him during the hearing at Basildon Crown Court.
Prosecutor Francesca Levett stated, “He is 31 years old and was convicted of similar sex offences in October 2019. He admitted to seven of the offences and was sentenced to two years in prison. Additionally, he was placed on a sexual harm prevention order for a period of ten years.”
“He was released on October 14 and subsequently acquired a phone and established social media accounts. These offences were committed approximately three weeks after his release.”
“A police officer assumed the identity of a 12-year-old girl, and they initiated communication through a dating application before transitioning to WhatsApp.”
“He was requesting intimate images of the girl and sending explicit images of himself to her.”
“Stifman was apprehended on November 6, and during his police interview, he made a complete confession.”
“He declared his objective to engage in sexual intercourse with the girl and expressed his disregard for the fact that he had violated the order by possessing a mobile phone and social media accounts, and he had failed to inform the authorities.”
In his sentencing of Stifman, Judge Andrew Hurst stated, “It is fortunate that you were not conversing with a 12-year-old girl.” The trauma it would have inflicted is beyond my comprehension.
The judge further stated, “You must comprehend that children are not objects for sex and are not prepared to navigate the adult sexual world.”
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