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An isolated disabled man who started using social media to combat loneliness ended up sending sexually explicit videos to what we thought were children he was talking to online.

Lee Challinor, who suffers from cerebral palsy, didn't realise that some of the youngsters he was chatting to were actually undercover police officers.

When detectives caught up with Challinor, they discovered he had been in touch with 10 other profiles who appeared to be children, including one abroad, although investigations could not actually establish that they were in fact minors.

Challinor, 47, sent videos of himself performing a sex act, and asked one boy of 13 to meet him at a hotel in London for sex.

And police found he had indecent images of kids on his phone and computers, with evidences some of them have been distributed.

Judge Niclas Parry said over a two and a half years Challinor had engaged in "highly sexualised, crude and vulgar" social media conversations with at least 12 individuals he believed to be children aged between 12 and 15.

The contact and the sexual communication was initiated by him, and the amount of communication was substantial.



It involved him encouraging them to engage in sexual acts on themselves and caused them to watch himself engaging in sexual acts.

Defending barrister Sion ap Mihangel said Challinor had shown genuine remorse, had pleaded guilty and was apologetic. He had stopped using on-line chat rooms.



He knew it was a serious matter and that it had to be custody.



His physical condition meant that custody would be very difficult for him and he would suffer.



The barrister said: "He felt lonely and isolated. It was suggested by others that he should get on to Facebook to broaden his outlook and that

spiralled out of control."



He used other social media outlets and at the time of the offending was said to be "in a dark place" and struggling to come to terms with

bereavement.



At the time he had no real appreciation of the full implications or the seriousness of what he was doing, or how prolific his offending was.



There had been a lack of structure within his home which led to him committing the offences.



Issues in his life could be tackled in custody and there would be a sexual harm prevention order in place on his release.



Challinor, of Queensway in Wrexham , admitted 26 offences - attempting to cause a child to engage in sexual activity, attempting to arrange the commission of a child sex offence, attempting to cause a child to look at images of himself indulging in an indecent act, and attempting to have sexual communication with a child.



He also admitted making 14 category A images of child sex abuse; 20 at category B and 92 at category C.



Challinor admitted possessing a prohibited image of a child, possessing four extreme images involving humans and animals, and three charges of

distributing indecent images of child sex abuse.

Judge Parry jailed Challinor for 32 months.

Speaking after the sentence, Detective Constable Andy Pendleton of the North Wales Police Paedophile Online Investigation Team said: “We welcome the sentence, which reinforces our commitment to tackle all forms of child abuse.

"Lee Barrie Challinor targeted and groomed online many individuals he believed were children. Despite having clear knowledge of their ages, his vile activities included sending sexualised messages, exposing himself on video chats and inciting them to send him sexualised messages and pictures.

"North Wales Police work closely with partner agencies and are proactive in the apprehension and prosecution of those who are involved in all forms of child abuse. This includes the use of undercover officers, deployed online to identify those who seek to exploit the internet for their sexual depravities.

"Young people who use online chat applications should be cautious of communicating with others whom they do not know and very careful of the personal information and material they share."