This is the shocking moment a paedophile is caught red handed by vigilante hunters after sending pictures of his genitals to a fictional underage girl.
Kevin Collins, 44, was spared jail despite sending sickening messages to three different fictional girls, aged 11, 12 and 14.
Collins, from Winshill in Staffordshire, had previously been convicted of 17 charges of downloading child pornography in 2007, while this year he admitted to three counts of trying to message girls 16 or under for the purpose of obtaining sexual gratification between June 25 and July 15 this year.
But he was caught out again when he was greeted by the paedophile hunters. After they confronted the 44-year-old, he claimed ‘didn’t want to meet anyone’ and tried to deny grooming the young girls.
He was quickly placed under a citizens arrest by the vigilantes, who livestreamed the encounter on Facebook.
In the video, the vigilantes are heard saying: ‘The police have been called, you’re not going anywhere.
‘You’ve been messaging kids, haven’t you?
‘How many underage kids have you been talking to, who were you meant to meet today at the train station in Burton?’
They added: ‘You’ve been talking to at least three.
‘Your taxi has been called, your neighbours already know what we’re here for, you’re not going to be talking to any kids for a while now are you?
Kevin Collins, 44, was spared jail despite sending sickening messages to three different fictional girls, aged 11, 12 and 14
‘Unfortunately your mother is going to find out her son is being taken away for grooming children. Do you think it’s acceptable?
‘Do you feel proud of what you’ve done, do you feel sorry for what you’ve done?’
Collins had planned to meet one of the girls but did not show up, so then the vigilante group Keeping Kids Safe went to his address to surprise him.
The court heard he had initiated a conversation with ‘Tia’, a fictional 14-year-old girl, and pursued a chat of sexual nature, asking her if she would have sex with an older man.
A screenshot of the WhatsApp messages he sent to one of the fictional children
In court he claimed he was not sexually attracted to children and had no plans to meet them. He also bleated that he was ‘lonely’ after looking after his 73-year-old mother.
His defence said: ‘It was little more than a fantasy and there would not have been any personal contact.’
A spokesperson for Keeping Kids Safe said: ‘Our children are the future and we must protect them at all costs – otherwise we will just be producing generation after generation of victims.
‘We have cracked down on the epidemic of online grooming, our founder Patrick Fripps has been doing this since April 2017 and already he has had 44 arrests and holds a one hundred per cent conviction rate.
‘We need to help and support from both police and judges in order to be proactive rather than reactive.’
Collins was given a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.
Collins, from Winshill in Staffordshire, was given a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for two years