Convicted Paedophile Jailed for Messaging Decoy Accounts Posing as 13-Year-Olds

A previously convicted paedophile has received a sentence of two years and 10 months in prison after being apprehended for communicating with individuals he believed to be two 13-year-old girls. Teesside Crown Court was informed that Philip Woods, aged 55, was in fact communicating with two decoy profiles managed by a single online paedophile hunter. Woods was found to be in violation of a sexual harm prevention order, established in 2019 following his conviction for creating indecent images of children, by utilizing a mobile phone that he had failed to register with law enforcement. He pleaded guilty to both the breach of the order and the charge of attempting to engage a child in sexual communications. According to prosecutor Reece Williams, on October 7, Woods sent messages through Chat Avenue to an individual he perceived to be a 13-year-old girl, expressing a desire to be her boyfriend and transmitting a link that he asserted displayed a video of “an older man making love to a 13-year-old”. The subsequent day, he initiated contact with another account, which he also believed belonged to a 13-year-old girl, and once more steered the conversation towards sexual topics. The court was informed that both accounts were operated by the same online safety organization, which subsequently reported him to the police. Judge Bennett remarked that, despite his prior apprehension, it was evident that Woods’ “sexual interest in children continued” and that he presented a “very high risk”. Woods, residing on Helmsley Road in Durham, was additionally placed under a new sexual harm prevention order, which will indefinitely restrict his access to devices capable of connecting to the internet. He is required to register as a sex offender for a period of 10 years.