Paedophile Jailed After Sky News Sting

A youth consultant caught by a Sky News investigation grooming children on the internet for sex has been jailed for 21 months.

Simon Beard, 56, was convicted of grooming a minor for sex, indecent exposure and attempting to incite a minor to commit a sexual act, as a result of Sky's probe.

For six weeks, Beard was watched cruising website chat rooms and engaging teenagers in sexually-explicit conversation.

He began an online relationship with a 13-year-old girl called "Amy" without realising he was talking to undercover reporters.

Beard exposed himself on webcam and asked Amy to do the same.

In recorded conversations, he asked her to perform a sex act and asked if she was ready to lose her virginity. He also warned her not to tell anyone as he could go to prison if he was caught.

Beard went on to ask Amy to confirm she was not part of a police operation to trap paedophiles and that her mother would not be home if they met.

He was then followed from his home in Northamptonshire to an arranged meeting at Gunnersbury Tube station in west London, on April 29, where he was confronted by Sky journalists.

Beard later told Sky that the underage girls he had met on the internet were mature enough to give consent for sex.

But he also admitted that in the eyes of the law, his actions were illegal.

Beard, before sentencing at London's Southwark Crown Court, said in a statement: "I'm glad I was caught by this undercover investigation before I could cause any harm to a real teenager."

Jailing the pervert, Judge Anthony Leonard QC said: "While I have reservations about the appropriateness of such sting operations, it has exposed you as someone looking for young girls for your own sexual gratification."

In his work as a youth consultant, Beard advised teenagers on contraception and ran courses for other consultants working on teenage sexual development.

Shocked residents in the village of Little Harrowden where Beard lived with his wife, described how detectives swooped on his home the night the programme was broadcast.

In an earlier hearing, Beard pleaded not guilty to a further charge of possessing 86 indecent images of children - including some at level 4. The charge was left to lie on file.

Source - Yahoo News & Entertainment.