A pervert who sent sexually explicit videos to a ‘teenage’ girl was arrested when his intended victim turned out to be an undercover police officer.

Michael Bagnall sent videos of himself performing a sex act which were recorded in the bedroom of his home.

The 36-year-old was arrested when police traced his online activity to his County Durham address, Teesside Crown Court heard.

Jessica Butterell, prosecuting, said the defendant used a fake name on Snapchat before befriending the police decoy posing as a 13-year-old girl from London.

“The defendant told ‘Chloe’ that he was 14-years-old and from Newcastle,” she said. “The conversation became sexually explicit with the defendant sending seven videos of himself performing a sex act and inviting her to comment on it.”

Miss Butterell said the decoy told him that she was 13 but he replied with sexually explicit messages and tried to phone her to get her to watch.

Bagnall, of Oswick Place, Newton Aycliffe, pleaded guilty to attempting to make sexual communication with a child and attempting to cause a child to watch sexual activity between September 12 and October 23 last year.

Michele Turner, mitigating, said her client was intoxicated at the time of the offences and had lost access to his own child as a result of his conviction.

She added: “It is right to say that the defendant has already been punished by his personal circumstances.

“He now has no contact with his child.”

Judge Chris Smith sentenced Bagnall to 19-months in custody suspended for 18-months with 30 rehabilitation activity requirement days attached and ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work.

“Over the course of persistent conversation encouraging her to engage in sexual activity, telling her that you were engaged in sexual activity and sending her several videos, you committed these two offences,” he said.

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“There was no 13-year-old girl, it was in fact a law enforcement officer doing their best to hunt out paedophiles like you who abuse the internet and try to exploit vulnerable young girls.”

Bagnall was also made subject to an electronic curfew between 7pm to 7am for four months, ordered to sign on the sex offenders’ register for ten years and issued with a sexual harm prevention order for the same period of time.

The judge added: “Here you were, you say, heavily intoxicated and you had no idea what was going on. I find that impossible to believe because it went on for a month.

“So, any suggestion that every time you dipped into Snapchat you were intoxicated is just rubbish.”