Perverted Wakefield pensioner asked '12-year-old girl' if she would have sex with her father

Perverted Philip Parkin, aged 71, made the vile suggestions after making contact online with what he thought was a young girl on May 21, 2021.

Telling Parkin she was only 12, he replied that he was “too old for her” but continued to ask questions, initially quizzing her over whether she had a boyfriend.

He then turned the conversation sexual and asked if she had anyone to have sex with, including her father, prosecutor Emily Jenkins told Leeds Crown Court.

Parkin, of Esther Grove, Lupset, Wakefield talked about masturbation and that he liked to watch others having sex. He was arrested at home on June 3, 2021 and his internet devices seized, including an iPad mini and a computer tower.

As well as finding the chats with the decoy profile, they also found 22 indecent images of children, ranging from Category A – the most serious – to Category B and C. In addition, there were 14 extreme pornographic images involving people performing sex acts with animals.

Parkin denied any knowledge of the images and claimed he had no sexual interest in children.

He later admitted three counts of possessing indecent images, one of possessing extreme images, attempting to incite a girl under 13 into sexual activity and sexual communication with a child.

Mitigating, James Littlehales said his client had no previous convictions and said the communication with the decoy was “relatively short in nature”. He said that when Parkin cut communication, an attempt by the undercover officer to re-establish talks were then rejected by the defendant.

Mr Littlehales added: “He accepted what he did was wrong, He is remorseful for those actions.”

He said Parkin had led an unblemished life until this point and said his could be dealt with by way of a punishment in the community, rather immediate custody.

The judge, Recorder Alex Menary raised concerns that Parkin continued to deny his sexual interest in children, which he repeated in his pre-sentence report.

He jailed him for 30 months and put him on the sex offenders register indefinitely.