A ROMANIAN man sent an image of his private parts, which he nicknamed ‘Bob’, to what he thought was an underage girl in the North-East.

Durham Crown Court heard that the unwitting offender also urged the ‘girl’, ‘Amy18’, to meet him for a sexual encounter, so he could “present” her to ‘Bob’.

The court was told unknown to Teodor Moldoveanu, ‘Amy’ did not exist and he had fallen for a trap set by paedophile hunters.

Moldeveanu was 20 at the time, in August last year, and living in London in the four months after arriving in the UK from his home country.

Phillip Morley, prosecuting, said the decoy profile of ‘Amy18’ was set up online on the Scout app on August 27.

Within hours Moldeveanu began conversing with the ‘Amy’, who confirmed her age was actually 14.

Their chat moved on to whatsapp, via which he sent her the intimate picture, followed by a 16-second video of him performing a sex act.

Mr Morley said a further video, on which the defendant’s face could also be seen, was posted the following day, after which he suggested they meet so he could, “present Bob to her”, giving her his address details.

He told the decoy she could visit and stay overnight if she could not get home, adding that the age gap was, “not a problem” for him.

The messages were reported to police and his phone was seized, revealing searches for the age of consent in the UK and the legal definition for underage sex.

Moldeveanu accepted the phone was his, given by his father, who paid the bills.

Mr Morley said the defendant was of previous good character in the UK.

Moldeveanu, now 21, of Harrow, in north-west London, admitted attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual communication, plus two counts of attempting to cause a child to watch sexual activity.

Dan Cordey mitigating, said although the defendant suggested the meeting, he got cold feet when the decoy replied: “how about tomorrow?”.

He made an excuse, saying: “I’m sorry, I’m busy.”

Mr Cordey added that the platform was supposed to be for those aged 18 and over, which is where the original contact was made.

But Judge Ray Singh said: “It’s obvious from the search terms on his phone that it had been made clear to him this ‘child’ was 14.

Imposing a six-month suspended prison sentence, Judge Singh told Moldeveanu: “You did not know that person was a decoy, an adult, but you were told of the age and you were under the impression she was 14.”

Moldeveanu was also ordered to attend 30 rehabilitation activity days with the Probation Service and perform 80-hours’ unpaid work.

He will also be subject to seven years’ restrictions under the terms of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and notification as a sex offender for the same period.