Sexual predator Soulemayne Soumare (Image: Stoke Live)
A 31-year-old man has been jailed after attempting to meet a ‘schoolgirl’ for sex in a sting operation by paedophile hunters.
Souleymane Soumare, from Etruria, Stoke-on-Trent, thought he was chatting with a 13-year-old girl on Facebook, asking her for naked pictures and sending explicit images of himself.
Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard that Soumare arranged to meet the girl and take her to his home. However, the girl was actually a member of a paedophile hunter group who had been monitoring his online activity, reported .
They were waiting for him at Stoke Railway Station when he arrived. Soumare, of Ladysmith Road, denied charges of attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming and attempting sexual communication with a child.
However, after a trial, he was convicted on both charges and sentenced to two years and two months in prison. Catherine O’Reilly, defending, said Soumare has a 10-year-old son and no previous criminal history.
She said: “He has no previous convictions, cautions or reprimands. Any sentence is going to be difficult.”
Ms O’Reilly also noted that Soumare, who arrived in the UK in 2013 and holds leave to remain, is studying at college and was realistic about the likely sentence.
Recorder Robert Smith said: “In July 2022 you communicated with a Facebook profile. I have no hesitation in concluding from the jury’s verdict and from the rest of the quite overwhelming evidence against you that it was you who was sending these sexualised messages to the Facebook profile of what appeared to be a 13-year-old schoolgirl.”
He continued: “In September 2022 you sent two pictures of your private area to the Facebook account of the girl. You asked if you could meet up.
“You solicited nude images of her in and out of the bath despite the fact that the messages from that account repeatedly told you the user was 13 years of age.”
The court was told that on November 29, 2022, Soumare went to Stoke Railway Station to meet the girl, expecting to take her back to his home. “
The plan from the messages was for the two of you to go back to your address in Ladysmith Road. The messages provide a clear window into what was in your mind, sexual activity with a child.
“In my judgement, the offences are so serious that only an immediate prison sentence is appropriate to mark the seriousness of your offending.
“In my judgement, you have a sexual interest in adolescent females. And it does not matter to you whether they are under the age of consent or not.
“I am satisfied that sexual images were exchanged. But I can’t find that penetrative sexual activity was intended.”