Stanley sex offender asked ‘girl’, for topless images, in online chat

But Callum John Thompson did not realise the ‘girl’, known as ‘Leyla’, was actually an undercover police officer acting as a decoy to snare online paedophiles targeting child victims.

The 23‑year‑old contacted ‘Leyla’ on the ChatIW platform and quickly asked to move their conversation to WhatsApp.

Even after being told she was supposedly 12, he asked for a photo of her breasts and sent her a picture of his face.

Durham Crown Court was told defendant Callum John Thompson believed he was chatting online with a 12-year-old girl, but soon turned the conversation to sexual matters (Image: The Northern Echo)

Ellen Wright, prosecuting, said Thompson also encouraged her to perform a sex act, offering to help her if she was unsure what to do, and asked her to send him pictures of her doing so.

Miss Wright said on May 28, a day after Thompson first made contact with ‘Leyla’, officers went to his home in Stanley, following information provided by West Midlands Police.

They found him holding his phone and hurriedly pressing buttons.

He was told to stop pressing the buttons and to hand over the device, before being arrested on suspicion of attempted sexual communication with a child.

Thompson said: “I won’t be coming back tonight” and “my bad”, to the officers arresting him.

The phone and a laptop, also seized by police, were examined and it was found the defendant had been using an alias name, CoolClub25, on a Discord account, which he had failed to disclose to his risk manager.

When interviewed, he made no comment to police questions.

But Thompson, of Clover Hill Court, admitted charges of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and attempting to cause or incite a child to engage in sexual activity, plus failing to comply with sex offender notification requirements.

Miss Wright said the defendant has a previous conviction for making indecent images of children for which the notification requirements were put in place, as well as a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, both for five years, in 2023.

Tony Davis, in mitigation, told the court the defendant, “leads an isolated lifestyle, living his life online”, and he appears to have, “a sexual preoccupation.”

Mr Davis said work can be done with him by the Probation Service, as: “He needs to be steered away from online platforms.”

He said the defendant has issues, including a diagnosis of dyspraxia, autism and ADHD.

“This is an opportunity at a time when he has committed no direct contact offences,” he added.

“He deserves to be punished, but more than anything he’s seeking help.”

Judge Edward Legard told Thompson: “It’s quite clear when these communications began you were told in clear and unequivocal terms ‘Leyla’ was 12-years-old.”

Thompson appeared via video link from HMP Holme House, at Stockton, where he has been on remand since his arrest last month.

Judge Legard imposed a 14-month prison sentence and said if it was made immediate it would be merited, “to reflect public abhorrence for such offences”.

But he said as the defendant has spent time in custody on remand, “giving a chance for sober reflection”, he could suspend it for two years.

“I believe society would be better served and protected by you attending a probation programme with rehabilitation activity days,”he said.

Thompson must attend 20 days of an accredited probation programme and up to ten days of rehabilitation activity requirement.

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He was made subject of both a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and registration as a sex offender, each for another ten years.

Judge Legard told Thompson: “This is your last chance.

“If there’s any repetition of this activity it will be immediate imprisonment.”