Witchford man booked hotel to abuse ‘children’
A paedophile was caught out after he booked a hotel room to abuse three young children who turned out not to exist.
Robert Badcock, of Main Street, Witchford, Ely, thought he had been speaking to two men in a same sex relationship on social media and had discussed sexually abusing their three children – a girl aged six and two boys aged three and 10.
However, the children were fictional and the men were undercover police officers.
Badcock, 59, spoke about his sexual fantasies, what he would do to the children sexually and discussed the practicalities behind meeting up in person.
In the conversations Badcock described how he loved seeing “little children running around naked” and also added that he loved “little girls in summer dresses”.
Badcock suggested meeting the men and their children regularly, three or four times a year, and told them he would find it “difficult to keep my hands off them”.
There were also texts and phone calls made, with Badcock going as far as booking a hotel at an agreed location for a certain date and time.
A final phone call was made in which Badcock withdrew his intention to carry out the abuse and cancelled the hotel booking on June 30. Contact between him and the undercover officers then ended on July 1.
Badcock was arrested and gave a pre-prepared statement, in which he admitted chatting with the men.
He said he had booked the hotel to make them believe he was going to visit, so their chats would continue.
Badcock told officers he had no intention of actually going through with meeting the men or abusing their children, adding that the messages exchanged were just “pure fantasy”.
However, Badcock later admitted three counts of arranging the commission of a child sex offence. He also pleaded guilty to failing to comply with his sex offenders register requirements by not telling police of an alias name he had used on the chat site.
He was sentenced to three years and three months in prison at Cambridge Crown Court on Friday (September 17). He was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely.
DC Decca Riondino said: “Badcock’s behaviour was completely inappropriate and shocking; using the internet in this way will not be tolerated. In this case he was intercepted by undercover officers.
“We had to review the evidence, conduct further lines of enquiry and act quickly to manage the risk posed to the community.
“This was a joint effort led by our Public Protection Unit and specialised departments. Protecting young people from harm is one of our top priorities and we will continue to work tirelessly to keep our communities safe.”
Anyone who is concerned someone may have been convicted of a sex offence, and could be posing a risk to a child, can apply for disclosure information through Sarah’s Law.
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