Moment paedophile hunters snare a sex offender, 23, who prowled Grindr before sending a snap of his manhood to a '14-year-old boy' but who was spared jail
- Callum McBrearty believed he was talking to Jamie, a 14-year-old, on Grindr
- But the account was run by members of The Hunted One, a vigilante group
- They caught him in a McDonald's in Eltham, south east London and held him until police arrived, handing over their evidence
- He was spared jail by a judge who believed he would emerge an 'unreformed paedophile'
Callum McBrearty admitted attempting to cause a child age 14 to look at an image of a person engaging in sexual activity
A
man who was snared by paedophile hunters in a McDonald's has been
spared jail after he sent a picture of his penis to someone he believed
was a 14-year-old boy on dating app Grindr.
Callum
McBrearty thought he was speaking with Jamie, a 14-year-old boy, but
the account was being run by members of The Hunted One, a paedophile
catching vigilante group.
McBrearty arranged to meet 'Jamie' at a branch of the fast food chain in Eltham, south east London, and was quickly confronted by three of the group's members when he arrived.
Mobile phone footage captures the moment the hunters walk up to the offender and ask him why he is there.
The
group spotted McBrearty in the queue at McDonald's at the end of June,
2016 and pulled him aside to ask him if they knew why they were there.
One of the group asks him what he's doing, to which he responds: 'Coming to get some food?'
Another asks: 'Coming to meet a 14-year-old boy, aren't you?'
McBrearty was spotted by the
paedophile hunters in McDonald's, where he had arranged to meet 'Jamie'
the 14-year-old he thought he'd been speaking with on Grindr
McBrearty is pulled aside by the group
who confront him about why he's there, and tell him they know he's
trying to meet the teen
When he denies it, he is shown the
conversation and images of his own penis which he sent to the men,
thinking he was sending it to 'Jamie'
He denies the claim and the men hold up screen shots of the conversation he's been having with the teenager.
As
McBrearty protests, the cameraman lays out the group's charges, that he
has sent a picture of his penis to a 14-year-old boy who doesn't know
if he's gay or not, and that he has been grooming the teen for three
weeks.
McBrearty attempts to leave the restaurant, but the group surround him, threatening to perform a citizen's arrest.
They handed over evidence to police when they arrived, who arrested him.
McBrearty,
of Bromley, South East London, had made his intentions clear as he
asked the boy if he wanted to meet so he could perform a sex act on him.
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The McDonald's in Eltham where the group met McBrearty after he believed he was about to meet a 14-year-old boy
Within an hour the registered sex offender told the child 'show me your d**k lol' and sent him an explicit image.
McBrearty
admitted one count of attempting to cause a child age 14 to look at an
image of a person engaging in sexual activity at Southwark Crown Court.
But he did not breach a previous order handed to him, as he was banned from speaking to children under the age of 13.
The
court heard McBrearty had since lost his job as a barman and was
planning to change his name to avoid the 'humiliation' his public outing
as a paedophile has caused him.
He
told police: 'As a 14-year-old I would have welcomed some guidance from
an older gay person as to how he would conduct himself in the future.'
The men told McBrearty they would
perform a citizen's arrest and refused to let him leave the restaurant
when he tried to get away
McBrearty was arrested and pleaded
guilty at Southwark Crown Court to attempting to cause a child to look
at an image of a person engaging in sexual activity
He
appeared at Southwark Crown Court on Monday in a grey suit, white shirt
and blue tie to face sentencing for one count of attempting to cause a
child age 14 to look at an image of a person engaging in sexual
activity.
Christopher Amis, representing McBrearty, said: 'These proceedings have resulted in the defendant's complete humiliation.
'The
group who carried out this investigative work have a website on which
there is a gallery of all those whom they have chose to name and shame.'
Mr
Amis said that McBrearty had appeared on YouTube, Facebook and other
sites, meaning 'his family, friends and work colleagues have all become
aware of the defendant's predicament. He has really heaped humiliation
on himself.
'These proceedings have
been extremely salutary. The defendant has lost his job working as a
barman. He has said he will have to change his name now his name is all
over the internet.
'Fortunately, there is no victim in the normal sense in this case. No damage has been done to any child.'
Mr Amis added that McBrearty was 'himself a vulnerable person' who suffered from depression.
McBrearty was given a suspended sentence at court on Monday
Passing
sentence, Judge Deborah Taylor said: 'You made contact through Grindr
and engaged in a sexually explicit chat with a boy you believed to be
14.
'Whilst in fact this was not a real child, you did not know that.'
Judge
Taylor noted that McBrearty's offending had escalated 'from merely
having images to moving to contacting young people, in fact children
under the age of 16.'
But she spared
McBrearty immediate custody, having heard from Mr Amis that he would
'simply emerge as an unreformed paedophile'.
He
was sentenced to eight months imprisonment, suspended for two years,
and a five-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order was imposed, preventing him
from making any contact with or possessing any images of any child
under the age of 16, save for his immediate family.
One
count of attempting to cause a boy aged 14 to engage in sexual activity
involving oral sex and one of attempting to meet a boy aged 14 for the
purposes of committing a sexual offence were left to lie on file.
McBrearty
signed the Sex Offenders' Register in 2013 and was handed a two-year
conditional discharge after admitting 14 counts of making indecent
images of children at Wood Green Crown Court.
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