Loner paedophile asked ‘girl’ to take naked photos in school toilets

Ian Hough was in fact talking to an undercover police officer, exposed in a trap to snare cyber perverts with a twisted sexual interest in children.

When police raided his home, they also discovered that the 58-year-old had been sharing vile sexualised chats with another decoy account purporting to be a child years earlier.

He was subsequently charged with two counts each of attempted sexual communications with a child, attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity and attempting to incite a child to watch sexual activity, before being sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court on Tuesday.

Paul Blasbery, prosecuting, explained that the defendant was using the social media platform Snapchat on March 20 last year to engage in sexual communications.

He believed these were with a 12-year-old girl named Maisie, but the profile was in fact operated by an undercover police officer rooting out online child sex predators.

During the chats, the officer made it clear that the ‘girl’ was only 12 years of age, to which Hough said he was 56 and asked if the age difference was an issue for her.

On 10 days between mid-March and April 12, chats took place, with the defendant referring to the girl as ‘baby’ and asking her if she would rather be with him than in school.

He asked her what she was wearing, and then what she was wearing underneath when she said she was in her school uniform.

The pervert went as far as asking her to go to the school toilet and to send him naked photos of herself.

When the officer asked what Hough would do with the photos, he said: “Keep them, look at them and probably play with myself baby.”

Moreover, the defendant asked if the ‘girl’ would like to see ‘girl-on-girl’ videos before sending them to her.

During the discussions, the officer obtained Hough’s Winwick Road address, and police arrested him on May 10.

The property, which was described as ‘unlivable’ due to the condition it was in, was searched and a mobile phone was recovered.

An examination flagged up sexualised WhatsApp chats on six days between October 14 and December 28, 2017, between Hough and a ‘girl’.

Again, the defendant was aware that she was underage, namely 14 in this case, and he even said: “If you have sex with me, I could get into a lot of trouble and get a record for the rest of my life as a paedophile due to your age.”

He also sent the account photos of genitalia and adult pornographic videos, and asked her to send him a video of her performing a sex act on herself.

Ian Hough was sentenced by Liverpool Crown Court

Enquiries were made to try to trace the person operating the account, but these failed.

During his police interviews, he answered ‘no comment’ to all questions put to him by officers.

Representing Hough, Olivia Beesley offered mitigation in the form of her client’s lack of any previous convictions, as well as his guilty pleas.

“These are very serious offences, and the defendant knows this,” she said.

“The central theme of the case and the defendant’s life is isolation and loneliness. He has been living alone since 2002. He is a man with no support system whatsoever.”

It was said that Hough is a ‘slow learner’, having been ‘starved of oxygen at birth’, and that his mental health has ‘declined’.

“I submit that this is a vulnerable individual who has suffered all through his life,” Ms Beesley commented, adding that he was previously scammed out of £150,000 online.

“This is an unusual defendant, and this is an unusual case. He hopes the court accepts his remorse is genuine, which is the first step towards rehabilitation.

“A custodial setting is not the place for him. He is best assisted by the Probation Service. If there is a small chance today, I pray in his aid for the sentence to be suspended.”

Judge Brian Cummings retired for more than 30 minutes to consider his sentence, and on his return, he said: “On the one hand, you pleaded guilty to very serious offences.

“On the other hand, you are a vulnerable individual with a low IQ and lead a very isolated existence, with no family or friends.

“The starting point is immediate imprisonment, but as this is an exceptional case, the public’s interests are best served by the imposition of a suspended sentence order, with the Probation Service doing intensive work to protect the public, specifically children, and prevent further offending.”

Hough, of Winwick Road in Longford, was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for two years, during which time he must complete 50 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

He must also sign the sex offender register for 10 years and abide by the terms of a sexual harm prevention order for life, while an order was approved to deprive him of the mobile phone seized by police on his arrest.

“You are no doubt relieved not to be going to prison, but be in no doubt about the position you are in,” Judge Cummings added.

“This is not over. The law is brutally clear – if you breach the suspended sentence, you will be brought back to court, and the court must send you to prison.”