Nicholas Murphy, of Speke, Liverpool who was jailed for three years
A paedophile who called himself ‘Horrible Nick’ used a messaging app to arrange the gang rape of a three-year-old boy.
Nicholas Murphy, 45, was caught by undercover police as he discussed his sick fantasies with other men on encrypted Kik Messenger.
Murphy, of Speke, Liverpool, promised one man that he could arrange to bring the young child to them so they could carry out sexual abuse together.
He was arrested after a chat group of 10 paedophiles was infiltrated by investigators who then traced his location and swooped on his house.
Murphy was jailed for three years at Liverpool Crown Court on February 15, after he admitted attempting to arrange a child sex offence.
The father of one youngster he had selected as his victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said: ‘It was just horrible. It makes you feel sick.
‘They read to us the chat history of his conversations on Kik Messenger and there were graphic details of what he wanted to do to my child.
Murphy flexing his muscles wearing a vest with the words ‘NIcholas “Macho” Murphy emblazoned on the front
Murphy, who admitted attempting to arrange a child sex offence, shows off his arms in grey jacket
‘He was using the name ‘Horrible Nick’ and was speaking to other paedophiles.
‘There was a group of about 10 which was brought down by an operation where the police traced their locations.
‘Knowing that it was all being planned, you can’t help but imagine what might have happened to your son, had it not all been stopped.
‘Going to court was horrible. All you can think about is what he said he was going to do to your son, it was absolutely horrible having to look at him knowing what he had said.’
After Murphy’s arrest in September 2016, his court date was delayed four times due to psychiatric exams. He initially denied the charge, but later changed his plea to guilty.
As well as the three year jail term for three counts of attempting to arrange or facilitate the commission of a child sex offence judge Rachael Smith also ordered him to sign the sex offenders register for life, and issued with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
It means he is prevented from using any internet enabled device which doesn’t store a copy of his browsing history.
A spokesman for messaging app Kik, said: ‘We take online safety very seriously, and we’re constantly assessing and improving our trust and safety measures.’