A 39-year-old man has been jailed for three years after “ugly” disorder broke out when his arrest following a “paedophile sting” was streamed live on Facebook.
Lee Comley, of Leigh Park, Havant, was arrested on July 1 after a group that calls itself the Child Online Safety Team live-streamed their confrontation with him before police arrived.
Officers with riot shields then had to be deployed after a crowd of about 100 people formed and began chanting and throwing objects, including at police, although no one was injured.
Hampshire Constabulary then imposed a temporary dispersal to enable officers to use extra powers to break up the gathering.
Judge Michael Bowes KC jailed Comley at Portsmouth Crown Court, where he had previously pleaded guilty to a charge of attempting to incite a 14-year-old child in sexual activity.
He also made him subject to a sexual harm prevention order and said that Comley had shown a “lack of insight” into the seriousness of his offending.
The judge told Comley: “I am satisfied that it’s both necessary and proportionate for that to be an indefinite order.”
Prosecutor Simon Foster told the court: “The matter had been streamed online and that led to an extremely ugly incident.”
He said Comley had first made contact with the profile of the 14-year-old called Maya, who did not exist but was used as a sting profile by the vigilante group, through Facebook before moving on to WhatsApp.
The defendant started by asking for photos of the girl in her bikini before requesting pictures and videos of her naked and of her carrying out sexual acts.
Emma Easterbrook, defending, said that Comley had been held in custody after a previous court hearing out of concern for his wellbeing because of the previous disorder.
She said: “He has lost his home and his employment, he has been punished above and beyond what we would expect from these courts for this type of behaviour.”
Chief Inspector Alex Charge, of Hampshire Constabulary, said after the arrest incident: “Disorder will not be tolerated – it can cause real fear for residents, damage property and seriously impede our police officers who are working really hard to carry out their duties, make arrests and keep people safe.
“Officers attended quickly and robustly but were confronted by a group of people acting aggressively, including some who were throwing objects at police.”
Inspector Neal Harvey said: “I am pleased with today’s result and I hope it sends a clear message about the seriousness with which we treat these offences.
“Comley is dangerous individual, and whilst luckily the child he believed he was communicating with in this instance wasn’t real, it is clear that the intent was there and that he could have caused real harm if not caught.
“We are committed to ensuring that anyone who intends to cause harm to children faces justice for their horrendous actions, and we will pursue offenders relentlessly.”
