Dark web paedophile 'groomed' and sexually assaulted boy

Liverpool Crown Court heard that the crimes of Paul Roberts, 38, were uncovered by a National Crime Agency investigation.

In an earlier hearing at the Magistrates’ court, Roberts had indicated guilty pleas to five offences.

They included two counts of sexually touching a boy in St Helens last year; attempting to engage in sexual communication with him and two offences of making a total of four indecent photographs, one Category A photograph and three Category B.

READ > St Helens conman must pay £7k back for extortion of elderly man in Scotland

Making Roberts, who appeared via video link, serve more time in prison, judge Anil Murray described Roberts, who used software to “mask” his online activities, as a “dangerous offender” who “poses a high risk of causing sexual harm to children.”

The court heard that Roberts, who had a previous conviction in 2011 in relation to making indecent images of children was still subject to a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order at the time of his offending.

Fiona McNeill, prosecuting, told the court that Roberts was “using an operating system on his computer which has the ability to remove traces of his conduct, including any activity on websites, files created or viewed”.

She said investigators found “conversations between Roberts and another dark web user” and “these included describing potential child sexual exploitation.

“In the conversations Roberts refers to conduct with someone he refers to as ‘little dude’”, the victim of the sexual assaults he carried out.

Ms McNeill said the boy had “visited Roberts’ address” and that Roberts described assaulting the boy and “having seen the boy naked”. His conduct involved “grooming” and he got the boy gifts, the court was told.

On May 7 last year, NCA officers attended Roberts’ address and a “number of devices were seized from the property”.

In an interview, the boy victim had told police that he and Roberts had “communicated via WhatsApp and that Roberts had on a number of occasions got him to delete the messages”.

The boy said on one occasion “he had lost his phone but he suspected Roberts had taken it” as “there had been occasions his (the victim’s) friends had been contacted” by the boy’s phone.

Ms McNeill said Roberts sexually assaulted the boy twice, once on February 1, 2021, after Roberts had “put his arm around him and gave him a cuddle” he went on to assault the victim.

The second assault took place two months later, on April 1 that year.

She told the court Roberts had three previous convictions for 20 offences, including a breach of his 2011 Sexual Harm Prevention Order in August 2020, for which he received a suspended sentence. He was then imprisoned after further breaches during the period of the suspended sentence.

Defending, Jeremy Rawson, asked for credit for his client’s guilty pleas.

Liverpool Crown Court  

Passing sentence, judge Murray said Roberts’ previous convictions “are a serious aggravating feature of this case”.

He added: “In terms of the circumstances of this case, it is perfectly clear to me from your own history and from the circumstances of this case that you are a dangerous offender and that you pose a high risk of causing sexual harm to children” adding that Roberts is “sexually attracted to children”.  

The judge said, while unable to pass an extended sentence in this case, “the fact remains that you are a danger to children”.

The judge added: “You have said you are remorseful, I cannot accept that given your minimising of your behaviour and you have taken no steps to alter your behaviour. You spent most nights watching indecent images of children.”

The judge gave Roberts, of no fixed address, who was already serving a sentence for a breach of the previous Sexual Harm Prevention Order, 28-month concurrent sentences for the two sexual assaults, and a 14-month concurrent term for the attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child offence.

Roberts was also given a 12-month consecutive sentence for the Category A indecent images, and six months to be served concurrently for the category B images, making an overall sentence of 40 months.