This is the moment a man trying to meet an underage girl for sex is snared by paedophile hunters.
Former engineer Christopher Wise, 42, thought he was having illicit conversations on the internet with two girls aged 14 and 15 over social media site Scout last summer.
But he had in fact been duped by groups Dark Justice and Guardians of the North who set up fake online profiles to track down adults looking for sex with children.
Wise was confronted on July 3 last year when he arrived to meet the 15-year-old on Newcastle’s quayside area.
He had told the 14-year-old’s profile, who asked to meet him on the same day, that they would have to ‘postpone’ their date.
But the paedophile hunters were lying in wait.
Footage shows them peering into Wise’s car and ask: ‘Do you know the consent laws in this country, sir?’
‘Yes, I do,’ he responds.
‘What is it then?’ they challenge him.
‘Fourteen, fifteen,’ he says, before warning another of the paedophile hunters to shut his car door because it’s getting cold.
This is the moment a man trying to meet an underage girl for sex is snared by paedophile hunters
Former engineer Christopher Wise, 42, thought he was having illicit conversations on the internet with two girls aged 14 and 15 over social media site Scout last summer
Conversing with what he thought were two underage girls, Wise wrote that he wanted to have sex with them.
He told the 15-year-old, who claimed to be a virgin, horse riding schoolgirl, she was old enough to consent to sex and sent her a picture of his penis.
The predator also told the 14-year-old she would experience ‘enjoyment and ecstasy’ if they met and had sex.
Prosecutor Neil Pallister told Newcastle Crown Court that Wise had mentioned the existence of paedophile hunter groups while chatting and knew the risks he was taking.
‘The defendant appears not to have been able to help himself,’ said Mr Pallister.
‘He actually said ‘there are loads of people, I think, trying to catch people meeting up with underage lasses, people trying to catch people, younger lasses meeting older men.’
But he had in fact been duped by groups Dark Justice and Guardians of the North who set up fake online profiles to track down adults looking for sex with children
Mr Pallister added: ‘The defendant, at the time, clearly believed he was talking to 14 and 15-year-old girls and clearly went to meet one of them.’
Wise, of Brigham Avenue, Newcastle, admitted two charges of attempting to meet a child after sexual grooming.
Judge Tim Gittins sentenced him to 14 months behind bars with ten years on the sex offenders register and a sexual harm prevention order.
‘You began two separate series of conversations, grooming conversations, with girls you believed were 15 and 14,’ the judge told him.
‘Very early in the conversations it was made clear to you the age of the purported girl and nontheless you continued to engage with them, quickly descending into sexual discussions and centring on you wanting to meet them to have penetrative sexual intercourse, full sexual intercourse.
‘In fact, it transpired, one of the profiles was being operated by a group self-styled as Dark Justice, and the other, self-styled group Guardians of the North, who created such profiles with the intention of ensnaring those who would wish to meet with real children under the age of consent.
Wise, of Brigham Avenue, Newcastle, admitted two charges of attempting to meet a child after sexual grooming
‘Ultimately, you attended the arranged location on July 3.
‘It was clearly a surprise to you that you had not been corresponding, in fact, with children but with individuals from those organisations.
‘You knew the risk you were taking, not just with the girls underage but the risk of being caught by organisations such as those that were involved with you.’
Judge Gittins said Wise had displayed an ‘unnatural urge to gain sexual gratification’ by interacting with the underage girls.
Adam Birkby, defending, said Wise has no history of sexual offending but has mental health and other problems.
Mr Birkby urged the judge to allow Wise to keep his freedom and receive treatment.
He added: ‘It is better to give him the opportunity to change and show that he can.’