A 71-year-old Kettering Paedophile, William Griffiths, has been sentenced to more than two years in prison after pleading guilty to online child sex offences.
Between November 8 and December 14 last year, William Griffiths, previously of Kettering, engaged in an online conversation with someone he believed was 12-year-old girl.
In his chats with the girl – who was a decoy created by an online paedophile hunter group – William Griffiths exchanged inappropriate messages of a sexual nature, shared a topless photo of himself and asked for images in return.
William Griffiths was arrested at his home address after Northamptonshire Police were contacted by the online group who reported the interactions between the pensioner and one of their decoy operatives.
While in police custody, another group contacted the Force with evidence of William Griffiths speaking to another decoy – this time a 14-year-old girl – via Facebook between October 29 and November 13. Once again, the chats were of a sexual nature.
William Griffiths was subsequently charged with two counts of engaging in sexual communication with a child and a further count of arrange/facilitate the commission of a child sex offence.
On December 16, William Griffiths was remanded in custody after he entered no plea at Northampton Magistrates’ Court and his case was committed to the county’s crown court for trial at the end of January.
However, on January 27, at Northampton Crown Court, he pleaded guilty to all three charges and on March 25, William Griffiths was back before the same court where he was sentenced to 27 months’ imprisonment and was issued with a five-year Sexual Risk Order.
Investigating officer Detective Constable Ruth Marshall, of Northamptonshire Police’s Online Child Abuse Investigation Unit, said: “The private conversations William Griffiths had with the decoys were unsettling and therefore I am really pleased that he has been brought to justice.
“Although thankfully there was not a real child in this case, it does not lessen the seriousness at all because Griffiths fully believed he was talking to two girls aged just 12 and 14 years of age.
“I hope this case reassures the public that we will always act on information reported to us to continue to keep children in Northamptonshire safe and to bring anyone who threatens that safety to justice.”
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