Activist group helps to catch Cambridge paedophile

An activist group helped to snare a Cambridge man, who believed he was engaging in sexual chats with a 12-year-old schoolgirl.

Alexander Senf, 50, of Cedar Road, Trumpington, began chatting on the Wink app with ‘Grace’ - a fake profile set up by activists, who then moved the conversation to WhatsApp.

Senf asked for photos of Grace in messages between 10 October and 15 November, 2023, telling her she was beautiful and that she could trust him.

He made sexually explicit requests in a message on 15 November, but was confronted at his home by the activist group, who called police.

Officers arrested him and seized his digital media devices, finding more than 500 indecent images of children on a mobile, laptop, hard drives and USB sticks.

Senf was charged with three counts of making indecent photographs/pseudo photographs of a child, which included 201 in category A – the highest offending category with the worst images, and attempting to cause/incite a female child under 13 to engage in sexual activity.

Senf was jailed for two years and 10 months at Cambridge Crown Court on 30 January after admitting all the offences.

Det Con Matthew Walshe said: “Protecting young people from harm is one of our top priorities and we will continue to work tirelessly to keep vulnerable people safe.

“There is help out there for people who have sexual thoughts about children, but Senf made excuses for his actions and tried to justify them. I hope he uses his time in jail to choose a different path when he is released from prison.”

Anyone who is concerned someone may have been convicted of a sex offence, and could be posing a risk to someone, can apply for disclosure information through Sarah’s Law.

The police have dedicated child abuse information webpages online.