A BRADFORD man snared by a vigilante group that hunted online paedophiles sent “disturbing” sexualised messages, photos, and a video to someone he believed to be a 13-year-old girl.

In a series of grooming messages Mark Parkinson also urged the Facebook acquaintance - known as 'Lola' - to delete their online conversations warning her: “I could be known as a nonce, or sent to prison”.

The 22-year-old was arrested when police accompanied members of the online child decoy group Predator Exposure to his home.

Sentencing Parkinson, now 23, at Bradford Crown Court, Mrs Recorder Taryn Turner said he had enjoyed “a determined and sustained contact” with Lola over a period of almost ten months that involved “grooming behaviour”.

She added: “It’s clear it was your belief that you were dealing with a real child here: that Lola was in fact a real 13-year-old girl.”

Prosecuting, Abdul Shakoor told the court that Parkinson, of Lindholme Gardens in Allerton, made contact with 'Lola' in February 2023 by sending her a friend request, which was accepted.

He quickly discovered she was just 13 and initially sent generalised messages that eventually became sexual in nature.

Parkinson described her as “cute”, “pretty”, and “gorgeous” and suggested they could have a secret boyfriend/girlfriend relationship despite admitting that he was 22.

However, after sending sexual photographs and a video of himself he also advised Lola to delete their chats.

Mr Shakoor said: “His message indicated that he knew what he was doing was wrong. He acknowledged that if he met her, he might be called ‘a nonce’ and that he might be sent to prison.”

Parkinson’s contact with Lola lasted from February 28 to December 2, though it became “sporadic” over time.

On December 2 the predator group visited Parkinson’s home with police and he was arrested. In interview he gave largely “no comment” answers. He was charged on December 3.

After initially pleading not guilty in magistrates’ court Parkinson pleaded guilty to two counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.

Mitigating, Lauren Smith asked that Parkinson’s age and previous good character be taken into account and asked that a suspended sentence be imposed as he posed a low risk of re-offending.

Recorder Turner said Parkinson had sought to groom 'Lola' by flattering her and had invited her to delete their online chat history.

She said: “Throughout you indicated that you knew of what you were doing was wrong.

“You were soliciting – in other words inviting – images [from the girl].

“Attempts were made to dispose of or conceal evidence by deleting messages from a phone.

“The fact that this was not a real child, and that there wasn’t a live victim, has only a limited amount of impact in relation to the sentence of the court.

“What you did, what you said, [and] what you sent were quite disturbing images and messages, the content of which is very worrying to the court.”

She sentenced Parkinson to 16 months imprisonment suspended for two years, with a further 12 months to run concurrently.

She said he must engage with the Horizon offender behaviour programme, for men with a sexual conviction, and undertake 40 rehabilitation activity requirement days. She also imposed a ten-year sexual harm prevention order and ordered Parkinson’s mobile phone to be forfeited.

She added: “I see no reason why you can’t put your back into doing some unpaid work for the community and therefore there will be an unpaid work requirement of 150 hours.

“You have come within a whisker of losing your liberty. We will be keeping a close eye on you.”