Pervert caught by paedophile hunters at KFC in Darlington

Adam Gruter turned up at the KFC in Darlington in the hope of meeting the teenager but was confronted by members of the Child Online Safety Team who filmed the confrontation face-off.

Teesside Crown Court heard how a woman posing as the teenager had spent several days speaking with the defendant online before the conversation turned sexual and he sent her an indecent picture of himself.

Emma Atkinson, prosecuting, said the defendant had sent a number of messages on WhatsApp after befriending the decoy on Facebook.

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She told the court how Gruter quizzed his potential victim about her virginity and bra size while asking her to send images of herself between October 9 and 20 last year.

The adult decoy told the defendant on several occasion that she was 14 and was living in the Newton Aycliffe area but that did not deter his behaviour, Miss Atkinson added.

She said: “They agreed to meet at KFC on Yarm Road, Darlington, after telling her he had booked a room at Bannatyne’s Hotel.”

After he was confronted by the paedophile hunters the police were called and he was arrested, the court heard.

Adam Gruter (Image: Durham Constabulary)

The 43-year-old, of Elm Park Gardens, London, pleaded guilty to inciting or causing a child to engage in sexual activity and attempting to meet a child following grooming.

Robert Mochrie, mitigating, said his client had not been in the area specifically to just meet the ‘teenage girl’ as he was working for a wine company making deliveries all over the country.

Addressing the judge, he added: “He acknowledges that you will be minded to impose an immediate custodial sentence.

“This is unseaming and troubling behaviour which he has engage in.”

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Judge Timothy Stead sentenced Gruter to 20 months in custody for both offences after acknowledging that the intended victim was not actually a 14-year-old girl.

He added: “During the exchanges... you demonstrated your intention to carry out this through to a sexual meeting by booking a hotel room.”

Gruter was also made subject to a ten-year sexual harm prevention order and will have to sign the sex offenders’ register for the same period of time.