Paedophile made sexual advances to ’14-year-old boy’

A judge described a paedophile making sexual advances to what he thought was a 14-year-old boy as “gratuitous self-indulgence”. 

James Brooking, 30, was actually speaking to an undercover officer on the social media platform Fabguys on 3 July when he asked the decoy for their mobile phone number.

Once they had exchanged numbers, Brooking began asking the ‘boy’ for inappropriate photos of himself and turned the conversation sexual.

Pictured:James Brooking, 30. 

Brooking also said he wanted to see the ‘boy’ in his school uniform, to meet up and also sent inappropriate photos of himself. 

The contact between Brooking and the undercover officer ended on 10 July and Brooking was arrested on 14 July at an address with a child he had failed to tell police about. 

Brooking was convicted in 2014 of child sex offences and given specific requirements to alert police of new online usernames and to notify police if he was staying at an address for 12 hours or more where a child lived.

Brooking had failed to notify officers of any of this.  

On Friday (24 October), at Cambridge Crown Court, Brooking, of Upwood Road, Ramsey, was jailed for eight years having pleaded guilty to attempted sexual communication with a child, cause a child to watch/look at an image of sexual activity, arrange facilitate the commission of a child sex offence and four counts of failing to comply with sex offender register notification requirements.

Judge Andrew Hurst described Brooking’s offending as “highly sexualised” and “gratuitous self-indulgence”.

He also said Brooking was “out of control” with his urges, had “learnt nothing” from his previous conviction and did not have “the courage or conviction to acknowledge” he had an interest in children.” 

PC Emily Heriot, who investigated, said: "Brooking displayed a disguised compliance to his requirements but the truth has caught up with him. 

“We will do everything we can do to put those who intend to harm children in front of the courts so they can face justice.”

For more on child abuse, including how to report it and spot the signs, please visit the dedicated pages on the force website.