Paedophile travelled 100 miles to meet '13-year-old girl' who was undercover cop

24 September 2023 , 15:51

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Gearing was sentenced to 3 years and 11 months in prison (Image: CambridgeshireLive/BPM Media)

A 78-year-old paedophile has been jailed after attempting to meet a 13-year-old girl - who was actually an undercover police officer.

Leslie Gearing travelled 100 miles for the meetup in Peterborough on February 20, after ‘grooming’ her for two months prior - not knowing he was speaking directly to the police. Gearing called the decoy a “very pretty girl” and told her he wanted to have sex and take naked photos of her.

He requested that the ‘girl’ erased all evidence of their conversations, and told her any explicit photos she sent would be put in an encrypted folder on his computer. But after arranging to meet, Gearing was met only by specialist officers of the Paedophile Online Investigation Team (POLIT) - with a search of his car revealing child-size underwear, sex toys and camera equipment.

On Gearing’s electronic devices, 30,000 indecent images of children were found, along with more sexual communications with children - and attempts to arrange sexual activity with children. Gearing, from Chatham, Kent, pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent photos of a child, three counts of attempted sexual communication with a child, two counts of causing a child aged 13 to 15 to watch or look at an image of sexual activity, two counts of distributing an indecent photograph of a child, one count of possession of an extreme pornographic image and one count of attempting to meet a child under 16 following grooming.

Gearing was sentenced in Cambridge Crown Court after pleading guilty (Cambridge News)

At Cambridge Crown Court on Monday (September 18) Gearing was sentenced to three years and 11 months in prison. He was found guilty of a further count of attempting to meet a child under 16 following grooming and this was ordered to lie on file. DC Cheryl Lee, from the POLIT, said: “Gearing, through his self-serving depravity, was prepared to travel more than 100 miles with no care for the physical and emotional damage he would have caused by engaging in sexual activity with an underage child.

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“The items he brought with him show just how much of a risk he poses to children. Thankfully, he has been exposed and caught and will be held accountable for his actions. We will leave no stone unturned when it comes to keeping the county’s young and vulnerable people safe from harm.”

Any parents, carers and those involved with young people, who have concerns any child could be at risk, can contact police on 101, via Webchat - or call 999 in the case of immediate harm.

Siobhan Middleton