Predatory paedophile stung TWICE by hunter groups after arranging to meet girl at bus station

A persistent paedophile who was locked up after being caught by a hunter group has been returned to prison after being stung TWICE more in a matter of days.
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Pervert Craig Richardson, who was jailed last year for targeting what he thought was a young girl, targeted two teenagers online at Christmas last year.

But once again, both profiles belonged to two separate hunter groups looking to snare predatory paedophiles on the web, one of which confronted him at Castleford Bus Station where he had arranged to meet a youngster.

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Days before Christmas he started a chat with a 'girl', who told him she was underage from the outset, prosecutor Bashir Ahmed told Leeds Crown Court.

Richardson was deemed to be dangerous by the judge.Richardson was deemed to be dangerous by the judge.
Richardson was deemed to be dangerous by the judge.

He asked for a photo of her, but then quickly began making sexual suggestions, including asking her for pictures of her on the toilet.

He arranged to meet her on January 3 but was confronted by members of Fighting Against the Evil, who livestreamed the sting before the police arrived.

Richardson, of School Street, Castleford, gave no comments during his police interview.

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However, the 36-year-old had already been communicating with a fake decoy profile posted by hunter group Hunted and Confronted UK.

Again he made sexual suggestions to what he thought was a 13-year-old and asked her to send photographs.

He was confronted by the group before being taken away by the police, but he also refused to comment during that interview.

The court was told Richardson has eight previous convictions for 12 offences.

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This included attempting to incite a child into sexual activity in 2017, and again in 2021 when he was jailed or 18 months and given a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO).

Held on remand at HMP Leeds, he appeared at Leeds Crown Court via video link on Friday, where he admitted nine new charges relating to grooming youngsters over the internet, including counts of attempting to incite a child into sexual activity, attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual activity and breach of the sexual harm prevention order (SHPO).

Mitigating for Richardson, Jane Cooper said: "There's not a great deal for me to say.

"In terms of his personal mitigation, this is a defendant with learning difficulties.

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"He is an isolated individual who became more isolated from his previous conviction."

Judge Tom Bayliss QC deemed that Richardson posed a serious risk of causing harm to children.

He said: "You went to Castleford Bus Station and I'm quite sure with the object of putting into practice what you were trying to arrange."

He gave him an eight-year sentence with an extended four-year licence period.

He also gave him a SHPO of indeterminate length, limiting his internet use.