A SELF-PROCLAIMED “dirty pervert” arranged with an undercover-police officer to sexually assault what he believed were her five and nine-year-old daughters.

Anthony Goward, 52, was caught in Operation Meteor, a police sting to try and use pseudonyms on the internet to catch dangerous sexual predators.

The police officer in this investigation went under the pseudonym of ‘Karen’, with Goward reaching out to her with the message, “I hope you’re a very bad mummy… I’m just a bad old perv.”

Prosecuting, Paul Blasbery told Liverpool Crown Court how conversations continued, eventually leading to Goward and ‘Karen’ discussing her two fictitious daughters.

The daughters were ‘discussed in a sexual manner’, where Goward “discussed meeting up to sexually abuse her daughters.”

He also advised her that she should show the children porn and give them poppers so they would be more relaxed when he met up to abuse them.

The conversation grew even more detailed, with Goward laying out the specific ways he wanted the five- and nine-year-old daughters to perform oral sex on him.

After this, he had another call with the undercover officer where he reiterated his desires to abuse her ‘children’, stating that he needed to fix his car so he could drive from Leicester to Warrington to meet her and her kids.

In this second call, he went on to state that his current partner had a young child, but that he wasn’t interested in abusing him because he was a boy.

During a discussion around the specific classification of his planned abuse, Judge Recorder Michael Maher stated that Goward “revels in the suggestion of sexual assault.”

Throughout the sentencing Goward was unphased, barely moving or reacting to the Judge reading out his messages and planned abuse.

He was eventually caught after driving to Burtonwood services, with Goward, of Redmarle Road, Leicester, arriving to – as he believed – to meet up and abuse ‘Karen’s’ children.

After a short conversation with the police officer briefly maintaining the façade of a sick mother, officers descended and arrested him.

Defending, Paul Becker reiterated that “there wasn’t a real child, and the activity did not occur.”

“He has made frank admissions, and has made no attempt to skirt the blame.” Mr. Becker went on to say that Goward had taken steps towards rehabilitation whilst in prison awaiting sentencing saying “He admits he has a sexual attractions to children.”

This was his first offence of this kind, and first custodial sentence.

Judge Recorder Maher said: “You engaged in a sexual conversation with a mother who had an amoral relationship with her children.

“It was disturbing in the extreme. You bragged about previous sexual activity with children in Africa.”

Judge Maher also referenced specific texts detailing Goward’s relationship with his own abuse as a child. One text read “I mean, like I saw, I was started when I was 11 and I loved it.

“I’m just a dirty pervy bloke, it’s not harmed me in any way.”

Mr. Maher went on to add: “You revelled in the prospect of both the children committing oral sex on you.”

“You were caught red handed. You arranged to abuse children you believed existed.

“You wanted to indulge in this deviant behaviour and would have done so if they were not fictious.”

Goward was handed a four year and four month sentence, as well as a 15 year sexual harm prevention order.