Paedophile hunter group livestreamed sting for Pontefract pervert at his local pub

Wayne Longfield had been chatting with a decoy profile online and sent pictures of himself in his underwear to what he thought was a 14-year-old girl.

But the group behind the profile then went looking for the 53-year-old, knocking on doors on his street on the street where lived armed with a photo of him before finally locating him in the unnamed pub.

They then filmed the confrontation live over the internet and quizzed him about his actions. It caused a furore in the pub and the police had to be called and he was put in the back of their car for his own safety, prosecutor Jonathan Sharp told Leeds Crown Court.

Mr Sharp said that in 2021, Longfield had been on social media communicating with adult females, striking up sexual conversations and sending and receiving sexualised photographs.

In September of that year, he began the conversation with the fake profile – ‘Shelley’ – and despite telling Longfield she was only 14, he continued to request photos of her.

He even sent a photo of his erect penis through his underwear and pestered her to send photos of herself.

After his arrest, he initially claimed he did not know she was 14 and said the photos her sent were “just a wind-up”.

Longfield, of Headlands Road, Pontefract, later admitted a count of attempted sexual communication with a child. He has no previous convictions.

No mitigation was offered when Judge Robin Mairs said he would not lock him up. He told him: “You had been on various social media platforms at the time and frequently requested and sent photos of a sexual nature.”

He gave him six months’ jail suspended for 24 months and ordered him to enrol in an accredited sexual offender programme. He was also given 55 rehabilitation days, ordered to sign the sex offender register for seven years and given a seven-year sexual harm prevention order (SHPO). This will limit his internet use, prevents him from deleting his internet history and must make his internet devices available for inspection by police.