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But the profile Robert Burke had singled out had been set up by a paedophile hunter group looking to catch online perverts.

The 60-year-old was jailed at Leeds Crown Court this week. Prosecutor Robert Galley said Burke had contacted the Facebook profile in 2022, telling the supposed 14-year-old that she was “gorgeous”.

Burke (pictured) contacted the supposed girl on Facebook, but it was a profile set up by paedophile hunter group. (pics by WYP / Adobe)

But “within half an hour” of making contact, he began making lewd suggestions about having sex with the girl. He requested pictures of her vagina and sent her a picture of his erect penis. He later sent images of him masturbating. He suggested she could stay with him at his home address.

He then arranged to meet the girl but was confronted by the hunter group at Pudsey Bus Station. Having been arrested, he made full admissions to police.

Burke, of Nowell Terrace, Harehills, admitted attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, attempting to arrange a child sex offence and attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act.

Mitigating, Benjamin Bell said Burke had no previous convictions and was “trying to put his life back on track”. He said that his sentence could be suspended with probation agreeing that they could work with him.

He also said that Burke was “not a well man” and suffered from the lung condition COPD, which would make his time in prison much more difficult.

Judge Penelope Belcher acknowledged that Burke was “lonely and isolated” but added: “None of that begins to justify this. It’s plainly very serious offending.”

She jailed him for three years, gave him a 10-year sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) to limit his internet use, and put him on the sex offender register for 10 years.

Vile Leeds paedophile groomed underage 'girl' on Facebook and wanted photos of her genitals