A pensioner who sent images and videos of his genitals to what he believed was a 14-year-old girl has walked free from court.
Stephen Ford Hutchinson (69) was ensnared by a so-called paedophile hunter group.
The charges arose, the court heard, after Hutchinson contacted what he believed was a teenage girl but was actually a decoy working for a group called Child Online Protection Enforcers NI.
They broadcast the culmination of their ‘sting’ live on social media and in a 30 minute video which has been viewed and shared thousands of times, Hutchinson admits that he was talking to the decoy about “playing with my d***” but he claimed that “I caught myself on immediately.”
Sentencing Hutchinson at Ballymena Magistrates Court on Thursday, District Judge Nigel Broderick said offences of sexualised communication with a child is “quite abhorrent” and would usually result in an offender going to jail.
However, the judge said he believed a suspended prison sentence and the “extensive and comprehensive” Sexual Offences Prevention Order should protect the public and prevent further offences.
Judge Broderick imposed a five month prison sentence which he suspended for three years
Hutchinson, of Curran Road in Larne, was convicted of attempting to sexually communicate with a child between July 18 and August 1, 2022.
In the video Hutchinson claims that he is a “digital soldier - it’s my job to protect every child on the planet” and giving evidence on his own behalf he repeated those claims, testifying that he was a “digital soldier” helping to combat against “dark forces” which are involved in “molesting children and sexualising children, indoctrinating them in schools and cannibalism.”
Judge Broderick said it was clear from Hutchinson’s “presentation at court and from what he has told probation that he is living in a different world - he seems to be delusional.”
As well as the suspended prison sentence, the judge outlined the “extensive” 11 point SOPO which will remain in place for five years and has conditions about where Hutchinson can live, who he can associate with, what work he can do, what devices he can have and how he accesses the internet.
Hutchinson will remain on the police sex offenders register for seven years.