Anger of mother who posed as 15-year-old daughter to snare paedophile on Facebook only to see him spared jail
- Woman posed as daughter, 15, in bid to capture internet paedophile
- Kieran Clough, 23, was arrested by police when he went to meet the girl
- He admitted grooming and possessing indecent photos and weapons
- But he was spared jail by a judge at Newcastle Crown Court
By JAMES RUSH PUBLISHED: 12:13 GMT, 14 October 2013 | UPDATED: 15:25 GMT, 14 October 2013
A mother posed as her 15-year-old daughter after discovering she was being groomed by Kieran Clough (pictured) online
A mother who posed as her 15-year-old daughter to snare an internet paedophile has spoken of her anger after he walked free from court.The woman started to pose as her daughter in a bid to capture Kieran Clough, 23, after discovering he was attempting to groom the teenager on Facebook for sex.When Clough, who had used a fake name, went to meet the girl, with weapons and a book about sex in his car, he was met by the police. Officers searched the garage worker's home and found more than 900 child porn images and seven movies on his computer. Clough, of Chester le Street, County Durham, admitted grooming, possessing indecent photographs of children and having offensive weapons.
Judge Penny Moreland sentenced Clough to a community order for three years with a Sex Offenders' Register requirement and Sexual Offences Prevention Order for five years at Newcastle Crown Court.The mother of the teenage girl, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was horrified to overhear her young daughter telling friends she had been to meet a 21-year-old man she had been speaking to on Facebook.She demanded to see the messages between them and was sickened to read the sexually explicit exchanges.She then began to pose as her daughter on Facebook and arranged to meet Clough, but made sure police arrested him on his way to the meeting.
Officers who searched his car found a book on sex toys, a knuckle duster and a police baton inside.The 37-year-old from Wearside said: 'I'm thankful every day that she hadn't been raped or murdered.
Clough admitted grooming, possessing indecent photographs of children and having offensive weapons at Newcastle Crown Court (pictured)
'All the things that were found in his car prove it wasn't just an innocent ride out. At the time she was an impressionable 15-year-old girl, a boy fancied her and she was flattered.'She doesn't believe people that easily now. He'd sent her intimate photos of himself and was sending her messages saying "I'll give you money and I'll buy you stuff if you come out with me".'I read all of the messages which was really scary for me because he'd sent her really intimate messages and she'd been flattered and being as young and silly as she is she replied to them.
'The police said they were classing him as a serious sexual predatory paedophile because he had indecent images of children and that scared me even more. He should have been sentenced to a custodial sentence. He's dangerous'
- The 15-year-old victim's mother
'You're reading those things that somebody's saying to your child and the replies that she was putting.'I was absolutely traumatised and disgusted.'The woman then started to message Clough in a bid to catch him.
She said: 'We wanted to get him arrested. I thought that setting up a meeting was the only way we'd ever find out who this guy was - because at that point we had no idea.
'Once we explained the seriousness of the situation to my daughter she became terrified.
'She didn't want to go to school, she was having nightmares and she was worried in case he went to look for her in school.'
The mother said when Clough was apprehended by the police they found him with a bottle of vodka, female underwear, a basque and empty shotgun cartridges.
She said: 'When my daughter found out what Clough had with him she was absolutely traumatised.
'If there's one thing I'd pat myself on the back for it's for catching him, because he's a dangerous boy.'
The woman said she was upset Clough had not received a prison sentence.
She said: 'The police said they were classing him as a serious sexual predatory paedophile because he had indecent images of children and that scared me even more.
'He should have been sentenced to a custodial sentence. He's dangerous. The system sucks.'
The mother has now urged other parents to be diligent in monitoring their children's computers and mobile phones.
She said: 'You don't know who you're talking to online, you don't know who the people are behind the pictures.'
