Ashley Emery, 44, from Middlesex, swapped sordid messages with the fictional girl before suggesting they meet in central London
A perverted football coach snared by ‘paedophile hunters’ outside the Houses of Parliament after he tried to meet a 15-year-old girl for sex has been jailed for a year.
Ashley Emery, 44, swapped sordid messages with the fictional schoolgirl before suggesting they meet in the centre of London.
The amateur coach even took the day off work to travel into the capital from his home in Middlesex in June of this year.
But instead of meeting the child he was confronted by two vigilantes from the Internet Interceptors Group armed with a video camera.
They subsequently posted a 10-minute clip of the encounter on YouTube as Emery sat with his head in his hands on a bench outside Parliament before handing the film to police.
In September, Emery was convicted of attempting to meet a girl under the age of 16 following a trial at Southwark Crown Court.
He had earlier admitted two counts of possessing extreme pornographic images portraying a woman being mounted a penetrated by a dog as well as a man having sex with a snake.
The pervert showed no reaction as he was jailed for 12 months today for what Recorder Edward Brown, QC, called ‘disgusting behaviour.
He said: ‘If ever there was a case that demonstrates what sexual grooming was, it is this case.’
In the video, Emery initially denied turning up to meet anyone but then admitted what he had done.
Emery then asked to sit down after a dizzy spell and explained: ‘What I say and what I do is two different things – all I can do is apologise. I started talking to her because I thought she was 19.’
But one of the hunters replied: ‘You are a disgusting, vile human being.’
In September, Emery was convicted of attempting to meet a girl under the age of 16 following a trial at Southwark Crown Court
They read him some of the messages he exchanged with the fictional child.
One said: ‘Hi there, how was your day?’ to which the vigilante replied: ‘I’ve been at school.’
Another of his messages reads: ‘Your profile said that you’re 19, so what are you doing now then?’
The so-called hunter confirmed: ‘No, I’m 15 years old.’
The judge said:’It was a girl who would have been, as far as you knew, was potentially a naive 15-year-old girl and you turned it carefully around to matters of sex and it became increasingly sexual in nature.
‘You spoke of whether there was room in the shower for both of you and whether she had seen a man naked before.
‘You questioned, bearing in mind you were a man well into your forties, whether you were too old for her, a schoolgirl, what would happen when you became aroused, whether she had ever been touched by a man before and you sent pictures of your private parts to her.’
Emery can be seen cradling his head in his hands during the footage, saying: ‘This is the first time I’ve done it – I’m feeling very sorry for myself.’
But one of the captors quickly pointed out: ‘I feel sorry for the person you’ve done this to.’
‘How about all the young boys and girls that get abused by people like you?’ asked the other.
Emery had earlier admitted two counts of possessing extreme pornographic images portraying a woman being mounted a penetrated by a dog as well as a man having sex with a snake
The court heard the impact of the sting had ‘catastrophic’ consequences for the pervert after the footage hit the internet.
Sophie Morris, defending said that Emery’s elderly parents had received death threats and he has been shunned completely by other close family members.
Despite the content of their chats, she claimed the coach ‘did not have any materials on him’ to suggest he was looking to engage in penetrative sex.
Asking for any custodial sentence to be suspended, she told the court Emery ‘recognises his wrong-doing’ and would like the ability to address it in a treatment programme.
‘I appreciate that what has happened – what you have brought upon yourself by this disgusting behaviour – has had a catastrophic effect on you,’ said the judge, who acknowledged the fact Emery had not gone on the dating site looking to groom underage girls.
‘I understand and wholly disapprove that your family, your elderly mother and father, have been abused as a result of your actions and I appreciate that must have had a devastating effect on them and on yourself.
But he added: ‘There must be a necessary element of deterrence to protect young girls from predatory men such as yourself.’
Emery, of Staines-upon-Thames, was jailed for one year, made subject of a sexual harm prevention order and made to sign the sex offender’s register for 10 years.
Chief Constable Simon Bailey, national lead for child protection at the National Police Chiefs’ Council, told the BBC earlier this year that police may consider working with paedophile hunters.
Despite refusing to condone the groups, who he said were ‘putting the lives of children at risk’, he conceded he was ‘not winning the conversation’ urging them to stop.