December 5, 2018 3.09 pm This story is over 75 months old

Lincoln paedophile caught in chat room honeytrap

He has been jailed for two years
Ashleigh Buttery was jailed for two years.

A Lincoln man has been jailed for two years after he was caught out by paedophile hunters.

Asleigh Buttery, 24, of St Catherine’s Grove in Lincoln thought he was grooming a 12-year-old girl over the internet before arranging to meet her.

The defendant, described as having an obsession with the internet, first encountered what he believed to be Vicky Payne in an internet chat room.

Gareth Gimson, prosecuting, said that Buttery quickly turned their chats to sexual matters and asked her to perform a sex act.

Buttery also sent her an indecent video of himself and then arranged to meet her.

Lincoln Crown Court heard how he turned up only to find he had been caught in a “honeytrap” and the person he believed was a 12-year-old was actually an adult.

He was filmed by the people confronting him and police were called resulting in his arrest. Footage of him being confronted was later posted on Facebook.

Buttery was found guilty by a jury after he denied charges including attempting to meet a child after grooming and attempting to incite a child to commit a sexual act.

He was jailed for two years and given a 10 year sexual harm prevention order. Buttery was also placed on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years.

Recorder Balraj Bhatia, passing sentence, told him: “You made it plain that your passion, which was almost an obsession, was to spend time on the internet in different chatrooms and on social media.

“Vicky Payne, the complainant, who was supposed to be 12 years old did not exist. She was created as a honeytrap.

“You very quickly moved on to sexual conversations with a person you believed to be a 12-year-old. That is the worrying aspect of this case.

“I take the view that the offences are so serious that only an immediate custodial sentence is appropriate.”

Michael Cranmer-Brown, in mitigation, said that Buttery was in “an appropriate relationship” at the time he committed the offences and had no previous convictions.

“He has been caught in an artificial scenario that has been created. No harm has in fact been caused to any child.

“All that was ever going to happen was that the defendant was going to be arrested.

“He didn’t seek out any child. He was on an app where 18 year olds were supposed to go on.

“There is no evidence that he searched for anybody under-age. He stumbled across Vicky Payne.”