A pedo-sting pervert who believed he was preparing to be a 14-year-old girl admitted he was “sick” to vigiantes who confronted him.
Tim Bowen, 46, was sentenced to 18 months in prison at Cork County Court on Wednesday after pleading guilty to two counts, reports The Mirror.
Bowen, formerly of Cottage View in Monkstown, Co Cork, admitted trying to contact the child to facilitate sexual abuse.
He admitted he tried to meet the child at Costa Coffee in Bishopstown, Cork on 29 July 2019 to sexually assault her.
Bowen was texting a 14-year-old girl in the UK – but he was actually communicating with a decoy group, Cobra.
Members of the Irish group Child Protection Awareness met him in Bishopstown and phoned Garrison, handing over a dossier containing messages and photographs.
Bowen, from Wales, initially said the girl he was dating was 18, but then changed his story to claim she said she was 14, but he assumed she was older.
He said: “I knew what I was doing was wrong, I thought she was older than she was… I knew going for girls half my age was wrong. I’m sick I know. I don’t know, there must be something wrong with me,” reports The Mirror.
Messages were exchanged between Bowen and DeCoy, who at one point asked if he was sure he could talk to the 14-year-old.
He called her “hot stuff” and asked for a nude photo of her, adding ““Lol fun night, night of sex,” reports The Mirror.
In another exchange, she wrote: “I want to see you in a little bikini. We can choose one in a shop. Would you wear it for me?” reports The Mirror.
Judge Colin Daly said Bowen’s involvement with Safer Lives amounted to “the most heinous crime”, reports The Mirror.
Several criminal trials for attempted child abuse are expected in court next month following the first convictions for a sting operation by pedophile predators in February.
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