‘It isn’t right’ - Shrewsbury man spared jail after calling off his sex chats with paedophile hunting decoy
A Shrewsbury man who attempted to lure what he thought was a 14-year-old girl into committing sex acts has been spared jail after he called off his perverted conversations.
Stuart Caunt of Spring Gardens began his chats on Facebook on June 15 last year when he sent a friend request to the girl, who had described herself as being 14.
Unbeknown to the 34-year-old, the girl didn’t exist and Caunt was actually talking to a decoy set up by a volunteer from a paedophile hunting group.
Shrewsbury Crown Court heard on Wednesday that the unemployed former cleaner’s chats with the decoy began “innocently enough”.
“They began simply by exchanging details,” said prosecutor Robert Edwards, but he added that Caunt’s communication with the child became increasingly sexual.
