‘Fanciful’ Leeds pervert sent naked photo to ‘13-year-old’ on Facebook and then denied it was him

The judge at Leeds Crown Court described Phillip Hayes’ explanation as “fanciful” after he was caught out by a paedophile hunter group.

The 59-year-old was confronted by the online group live over the internet after he latched onto a decoy profile on Facebook.

The court heard that Hayes, of Inglewood Drive, Seacroft, first made communication with the profile in June of last year. She told him she was 13, but he told her she was “beautiful”.

The conversation, which continued for 18 days, turned sexual, with Hayes eventually sending her a photograph of himself naked. He was eventually arrested after the hunter group confronted him.

Hayes admitted he was chatting with the profile, but denied sending the photo. He later admitted attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.

No mitigation was offered by his barrister, John Batchelor, after Judge Tom Bayliss KC indicated he would not jail Hayes, conceding that he often “struggles to understand”.

Judge Bayliss said: “You were communicating with a child, somebody you were told was 13. You sent pictures of yourself in a state of undress, and to say it was not you was fanciful.

"Maybe you did not fully appreciate the seriousness of what you were doing which was very wrong indeed.”

He gave Hayes a two-year community order, put him on the sex offenders register for five years and gave him a five-year sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) to limit his internet use.