Man caught by online child sex decoy sentenced

Antonio Pirozzi was sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court

A child sex offender who was caught by an online decoy has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Antonio Pirozzi, 61, thought he was sending sexual messages to a 14-year-old girl but it was actually a profile set up by online "predator hunters", Newcastle Crown Court heard.

The former chef and pub manager from Hunwick, County Durham, initially spoke to the "girl" about dogs and horses before the messages became sexual, the court heard.

He admitted six offences including attempting to incite a child to perform sexual acts. He was jailed for two years suspended for two years.

The court heard the decoy account had been set up on Facebook with a profile picture of a consenting adult taken when they were a teenager.

Pirozzi first messaged the "girl" in May 2019 and they sent each other pictures of animals, prosecutor Nick Lane said.

'Socially isolated'

But over the next few weeks he sent a "large number" of sexual messages to the decoy despite being told she was 14, Mr Lane said.

At one point Pirozzi said he would send her an explicit picture of himself but only if she sent one first so he would be "satisfied she was not part of some police operation", the prosecutor said.

The defendant was arrested at his home on 29 June 2019 after being confronted by the "predator hunters", the court heard.

Three indecent images and 70 extreme pornographic images were found on his devices along with searches he had made for sexual images of young teenagers and animals, Mr Lane said.

In mitigation, Ian Cook said Pirozzi had become socially isolated after ill health forced him to give up his work in pubs and restaurants.

He said the defendant of West View, accepted his behaviour was "awful" and "appalling".

Judge Penny Moreland said his offending was "disgusting" but there was a "realistic prospect of rehabilitation" in his case, noting the offence was five years old and there had been no other offending since.

Pirozzi must also sign the sex offenders' register for 10 years and a sexual harm prevention order limiting his access to internet-enabled devices was also made.