Castleford man jailed after attempting to arrange meeting to sexually abuse children

Petar Hristov, made contact with a woman online and went on to demonstrate serious and disturbing sexual interest in very young children.

Leeds Crown Court heard he believed he was in contact with a mother who could provide access to young children.

But his online chat was actually held with officers from the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Organised Crime Unit.

Appearing before the court on Friday, Petrov, 29, was found guilty of intentionally causing or inciting the sexual exploitation of a child under the age of 13.

The court heard that between 13 December last year and 3 February, he had communicated online with a woman and asked her to subject the children to sexual abuse. He then arranged to meet her with the view to sexually abusing the children himself.

However, this was part of a covert investigation.

Hristov was arrested by West Yorkshire Police’s Online Investigations Team in February and subsequent examination of his devices revealed he was also in possession of an indecent moving image of a child.

As well as the 14-year sentence, Hristov was also handed a lifetime Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Speaking after the sentencing, Det Chf Insp Andrew Howard of the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Organised Crime Unit said: “We are pleased that Hristov has received a sentence that reflects the nature of his offending.

“I have no doubt that Hristov, through his online activities, posed a danger to children if he had not been caught.

“We would always encourage people to report any illegal activity relating to child sexual exploitation which they may come across during normal online activity.”