By james art Liam Hirst was arrested after police were alerted to his online activities by pedophile hunting group STOP in September last year.
Hearst had been trying to convince what he believed to be an 11-year-old girl to send him intimate photos in an online exchange in the previous days.
Durham Crown Court heard that the 11-year-old, who was believed to be called ‘Gracie’, did not actually exist and was an enticing profile posted by a STOP member, but the defendant was unaware of the ruse.
Members of STOP visited an address in Wheatley Hill, County Durham, where Hirst was living at the time, and then notified police on 14 September 2023.
Kenan Lonsdale, prosecuting, said in their subsequent inquiries police discovered the accused’s simultaneous exchanges with two other girls he had befriended on social media, one aged 13 and the other also aged 11.
Mr Lonsdale said it was unclear whether these girls existed as they could not be traced, but one of them had sent a picture of herself, believed to be in her bra, to Hearst when he was harassing her for clearer images.
While in two of the cases Hearst openly admitted he was 19 at the time, with a third girl he initially claimed to be 12 to gain her trust.
One of the girls claimed to be a lesbian, and Hurst asked her about any sexual activities she might have had with other like-minded girls.
When she didn’t send anything clearer than a picture of her legs, he called her a “skinny.”
Mr Lonsdale said Hirst was interviewed and accepted, constantly asking for photographs from the girls he believed he had been corresponding with in the previous days.
He was asked if he mentioned meeting one of the girls and he was further asked if it was for a sexual purpose, to which he replied “probably”.
Hurst, now 20, and of Rowley Fields, Leicestershire, admitted three counts of attempting to cause a child to take part in sexual activity and one count of causing a child under 13 to watch sexual activity.
Mr Lonsdale said there were elements of maintaining behavior in each case.
Liam O’Brien, mitigating, said these were “clearly serious offences” to which the defendant pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.
Mr O’Brien said it had now been more than a year since the offenses took place and the accused was now living back in Leicestershire with his supportive family who had arranged for him to work with a therapist to deal with his offending behaviour.
At the time of the offences, the defendant is said to have been living with friends in County Durham after moving north following difficulties with a girlfriend in Leicestershire.
Since he returned to live with his family, there are no more problems with his ex-girlfriend.
Mr O’Brien said that while living in County Durham, the accused felt “isolated” and retreated to the privacy of his bedroom, where he turned to social media to occupy what time he had led to the commission of the crimes.
He added that the defendant suffers from developmental disorders that are linked to the commission of the crimes.
He told Mr O’Brien that there was a prospect of rehabilitation after the accused returned to a supportive family.
Addressing Hirst, Judge Smith told him: “You’ve gotten yourself into a lot of trouble.”
He told him he could have ended up in Durham Prison, which after a recent visit he said was “not a very nice place”.
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Handing down an 18-month prison sentence, he suspended it for two years, during which Hurst must take part in 30 rehabilitation days and complete up to 31 days of an accredited program overseen by the Probation Service.
Judge Smith said the defendant must also carry out 120 hours of unpaid work “to repay his debt to society”.
He also made the defendant subject to notification as a sex offender and a set of restrictions under the terms of a sexual harm prevention order, both of which will last for ten years.