Man who tried to meet 'boy' for sex is jailed

Stephen Verrill believed he was speaking to a 14-year-old boy when he sent sexually explicit messages

A 45-year-old man who attempted to meet a teenage boy for sex has been jailed for three years.

Stephen Verrill, of Quay Road, Bridlington, sent sexually explicit messages and pictures to a person he believed to be a 14-year-old boy, Hull Crown Court heard.

However, Verrill was actually messaging a decoy and he was arrested after arranging to meet the "teenager" at a train station on 12 May.

He admitted attempting to meet a boy under 16 following grooming, attempting to incite a boy under 16 to engage in a sexual act, and attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.

Det Con Bethany Barker, of Humberside Police, described Verrill as a "perverted predator".

“I am reassured now knowing that he is off our streets," she said.

Verrill was placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely when he appeared before the court on 13 September. He was also handed a sexual harm prevention order and had his laptop destroyed.

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