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An evil monster who planned to rape a baby in St Helens bragged of his links to a secret international paedophile ring.

Mauricio Dorta Vinas, 31, arranged to meet a man he thought was a dad willing to let him molest his eight-month-old boy.

But the pervert, originally from Uruguay, had actually confessed his depraved intentions to an undercover police officer.

Liverpool Crown Court heard details of their conversations in April and May this year, much of which are too obscene to publish.

However, the ECHO can print that hotel worker Dorta Vinas, of Hopkins Close, St Helens, told the officer, aka Ryan, that he:

Travelled to London to rape a German friend's children, aged two and five

Used the date-rape drug GHB mixed with orange juice on victims

Travelled to the Ukraine with his friend "where Arab guys paid to sexually abuse children"

Was paid in cash there to rape a five-year-old boy on camera

Travelled to a hotel in France to molest a friend's six-year-old brother

Wanted to come to his home to rape his "s*** baby"

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Christopher Hopkins, prosecuting, said Dorta Vinas used the name Taboo when talking with the officer on dating app Grindr.

He said he had "no limits sexually" and requested they continue their conversation on the encrypted chat platform Wickr.

The officer told him he had an eight-month-old boy, a girl aged three and a girl, 11, ages which Dorta Vinas said were "hot".

Dorta Vinas said he wanted his own "pervert family" and when asked what turned him on, replied: "F***ing babies mate."

He sent the officer a picture of his erect penis, described using extreme violence against babies, and drugging children.

Dorta Vinas said he twice went to Kiev in 2018 "to make videos" and invited the officer, adding: "I'm horny thinking you could be as twisted as me."

(Image: Liverpool Echo)

He said he had been in Blackpool where he saw "lots of eye candy" including two children, aged about five, in a McDonald's toilet.

Mr Hopkins said: "The defendant said 'I would have raped them there and then'."

Dorta Vinas met the officer at a Costa Coffee in St Helens on May 14 to check he was "genuine" and said his German friend was in a paedophile ring.

Mr Hopkins said: "He described one of the encounters [in Kiev] where they went together, were strip-searched for listening devices, then taken to a house where children and babies were raped and that it was filmed and those films were sold."

Dorta Vinas also said his German friend had been offered 100,000 dollars to take his two children to the Ukraine.

On May 15, on the way to the officer's house, the pervert was arrested at the junction of the road where he thought he lived.

He refused to provide the passcode for his phone and gave a no comment interview, then provided a statement saying he was a "fantasist" and never abused children.

Dorta Vinas appearing via video link from HMP Liverpool, admitted arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence.

Jeremy Rawson, defending, said his client had HIV, but "not in a communicable form", which would have been "a seriously aggravating feature".

The lawyer, who produced a reference from Dorta Vinas' girlfriend, said: "He was born in Montevideo. His mother abandoned him and his sister when he was two-years-old.

"He was raised by his grandparents - he had no contact at all with his mother.

"Culturally attitudes in Uruguay labelled him as an abandoned child who was unwanted and as a result he became a social outcast."

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He said Dorta Vinas' dad was also absent for long periods of his childhood and that he last saw him six years ago.

Mr Rawson said: "When he indicated to him that he was gay, his father responded by smashing a television and attacking him.

"There was no peace between them, before he died two years ago."

He said his client emigrated to Spain in 2008 and lived with an aunt, then moved to this country and got a job as a hotel reception manager.

Mr Rawson said: "He has no previous convictions and has in all other respects lived a perfectly honest and upright life, but regrettably there has been drug use.

"He spent some time in rehab and regrettably he has become involved in this level of activity."

(Image: Liverpool Echo)

The lawyer added: "He knows there is a problem. He knows he needs to seek rehabilitative assistance to reach a level of normality.

"He has been in a dark place and it remains dark. The enormity of what he faces has shocked him. It's clear from the report there is regret, there is remorse."

Mr Rawson urged the judge not to impose an extended sentence, with a longer licence period when Dorta Vinas is released from jail.

He said: "He has already received notification from the immigration department that he is going to be deported from this country."

Judge Stuart Driver, QC, told Dorta Vinas to sign on the Sex Offenders Register and comply with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for life.

He said: "The aggravating feature here is the extreme - and I emphasise the word extreme - youth of the intended victim. That is so grave."

What to do if you are the victim of a sexual crime There is help out there for victims of rape and sexual assault and other sexual crimes. The NHS recommends a range of services and support networks which are gathered on the NHS Choices website. Merseyside Police have specially trained officers who are experienced in investigating sexual assaults in the most sensitive way. If you’d like to report online, rather than speaking to an officer by telephone in the first instance, you can use Merseyside Police's online crime reporting service which is secure and confidential. If you’d like to talk to someone, the national non-emergency telephone number is staffed 24/7 and can be reached by calling 101. For emergency calls contact call 999 Information on the services offered locally is gathered on Merseyide Police's website. Charities offering advice include rapecrisis and safeline.

Judge Driver said there was no actual victim, but he had "no hesitation" in concluding Dorta Vinas was a dangerous offender and should receive an extended sentence.

He said: "In one early message, one of the earliest messages, between you and the other male you stated that you had no limits sexually.

"You stated that you would enjoy having penetrative sex with boys of all ages, but that your ideal would be two years old.

"In one message you said that while you were in McDonald's you saw the penises of some young boys and you wanted to rape them.

"A striking feature of the evidence is the lurid details of your conversations."

(Image: Liverpool Echo)

The judge added: "You described the sensation of raping a baby as heaven.

"You said it turned you on to drug children. You gave accounts of children you claimed to have abused and claimed to have done so internationally and on film and for payment.

"You say now that these were fantasies - well if that's the case it's an indication of your dangerousness, that cruelty and degradation are the subjects of stimulating fantasy for you.

"I find you to be a committed, predatory paedophile."

Judge Driver jailed Dorta Vinas for six years, with an extended five years on licence, meaning he will serve at least four years behind bars.