A MAN went ahead with plans to meet what he believed was a teenage boy for a sexual encounter, despite being told he was only aged 14 and “inexperienced”.

Durham Crown Court heard that the boy was, in fact, fictitious, the creation of police trying to catch paedophiles via a gay meeting website, Fab Guys.

Although the site carried a youngest age rule of 18, an under-cover officer posed as a 14-year-old boy to correspond with Colin Robinson, 54.

Emma Atkinson, prosecuting, said the officer received a message from Robinson on January 30, saying he was from Seaham and would he like to meet him.

The ‘boy’ said he may be, “too young and inexperienced”, but Robinson said he wasn’t too young, offering to show him pornography.

Miss Atkinson said Robinson also sent him images of male private parts, and asked the boy to send one of himself by reply.

A meeting was arranged on February 7, with the rendezvous to be a store in Seaham.

Miss Atkinson said it emerged Robinson had been in that vicinity and when police went to his home, in Doreen Avenue, they found him watching pornography.

When he was interviewed he implied he believed the 14-year-old to be an older man who he previously met through the same site.

The court was told despite admitting attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and attempting to meet a boy following grooming, he maintained his account when interviewed by the Probation Service.

Ian West, mitigating, stressed that his client admitted the charges, accepting his guilt.

As Robinson has committed no previous sexual offences Judge Jonathan Carroll said he could give him a chance to address his issues supervised by the Probation Service as part of a 16-month sentence, suspended for two years.

But he must also observe a six-month 8pm to 8am home curfew and undergo 30 probation activity days.

Robinson was also made subject of a five-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and must register as a sex offender for ten years.