Paedo hunters snare Plymouth man who sent revolting messages to 'girl'

Darren Langford was tracked down by paedophile hunters (file image)
-Credit: (Image: Getty Images/Westend61)


A Plymouth man tracked down by a group of paedophile hunters has been handed a suspended sentence after admitting sending perverse messages to what he thought was an underage girl but was actually a decoy adult woman who was part of a group who set up sting operations to catch offenders.

Darren Langford pleaded guilty at Plymouth Magistrates' Court to intentionally attempting to communicate with a girl aged under 16 with the purpose of obtaining sexual gratification.

Appearing at Plymouth Crown Court, the prosecutor explained that Langford, of Keyes Close, Plymouth, used the name Chris as a fake persona because he did not want people to know it was him sending the messages.

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The court was told that 53-year-old Langford started the conversation with the 'girl' online on April 6, 2022, saying "nice picture Princess" and adding "certainly wish I was younger". The "girl" claimed she was 14 and lived in Durham, but despite being told the age of the person he was communicating with, Langford's messages continued to send hundreds of messages to "Megan".

The prosecutor said the conversations "very quickly" turned to Langford asking for photographs which soon "became sexual in nature".

One example read out in court in response to Megan saying she was in the bath, was Langford replying that he was "in the bath together with a woman laying on top while I'm masturbating her". He went on to make other sexual comments including "I would f*** you on the sand as well babes" when she spoke about the beach and "would you mind if I have a w*** when I'm looking at your amazing pictures".

At one point he suggested they met up and on April 17, 2022 he sent the "girl" a picture of his manhood. The woman who used the false name "Megan" handed her chat logs onto her team, who dubbed themselves the "Child Online Safety Team" on Facebook and a meeting was arranged on April 19, 2022 whereupon they filmed themselves detaining Langford and alerting police.

Police arrived and took possession of the chatlogs and Langford's phone. Examination of his phone revealed the various messages. In interview he agreed that some of the messages were of a sexual nature and that he had been made aware of her age. Further examination of his phone found nine other chat logs with girls online which was suspected of being underage, which the prosecutor said showed a pattern of behaviour.

The prosecutor noted there was a previous sexual offence conviction for rape from 1998.

In mitigation his advocate Ali Rafati said there was no "fixed appointment" for a meet and had been waiting for two years for the case to come to court. He said Langford had not reoffended since the arrest and had been engaging with appropriate services.

Mr Rafati said that the pre-sentence report showed a prospect of rehabilitation and the prosecution's request for a Sexual Harm Prevention Order would assist him further. He urged the Judge to consider a suspended sentence with a two year community order to ensure he took part in ongoing offender programme, rehabilitation activity requirement days and an alcohol abstinence programme.

Judge Peter Johnson told Lanford he was 50 when he first started communicating with Megan and was fully aware from the start she was aged just 14 and about to turn 15. He said Langford's commentary became sexualised very quickly, initiated by him, and it was clear that he "not only" wanted to get photos from her but also sent indecent photos to her.

He said Langford made it clear he wanted to have sex with her "in a varity of ways" and there were hundreds of messages passing between them. Judge Johnson said the matter came to an end when the decoy "who was part of a sometimes known as a paedophile hunter group had worked out who you were and where you lived and as a result you were caught."

He said it appeared the catalyst was the death of his mother who he had cared for for some time and afterwards he had no sense of purpose, felt socially isolated and took to drinking.

However, he said it was clear Langford had a sexual interest in children, not just from the sexualised messages but also the "significant" previous conviction for rape and indecent assault in 1998 "again involving a female under the age of 16".

He said he accepted Langford's remorse and admissions, the pre-sentence report and reference to matters which took place in his childhood which went some way to explain how he had behaved during his life.

He noted the maximum sentence for the offence was two years. Taking into the account the aggravating and mitigating factors as per the sentencing guidelines and the credit he was entitled to due to his early guilty plea, he handed the 53-year-old a 12 month jail sentence. Noting that this would result in a period of just six months in prison which would not be long enough to complete a programme of treatment while in prison, he said he would suspended this sentence for two years.

Judge Johnson ordered Langford to be subject of a two year supervision requirement which would see him take part in an accredited sex offender programme for up to 43 sessions and a rehabilitation activity requirement up to 20 days to divert him from further offending.

However, he also passed an alcohol abstinence monitoring order for 120 days, noting that at the time of the offence Langford had been spending more on alcohol than on food. He also was to be made subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order with a number of conditions which would be for an indefinite period. Judge Johnson said Langford would be placed on the Sex Offenders' Register for 10 years, barred from working with children for life and pay court costs of £150.

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