Britain: A London-based paedophile believed to be the world's most prolific Internet groomer was sentenced to five years in prison yesterday.
Douglas Lindsell (64), of Twickenham, south west London, was found with a hand-written sexual profile of 54 youngsters from the UK and 19 from abroad.
The former postal worker bombarded some of the girls, aged as young as 13, with up to 100 phone calls after befriending them on the Internet.
Judge Richard McGregor-Johnson told him: "Your actions stem from your own decisions and your own desires . . . Your obsession with young girls is a sexual obsession linked to an obsession about rape. I do not accept your actions were actions of dirty talking."
The judge said he was in no doubt that attempting to meet one of the girls was to "put your sexual fantasises in practice".
Lindsell's actions came to light after the mother of a teenage girl found a naked picture of the defendant he had sent to her daughter through the post. She contacted the police.
The judge sentenced him to three years for attempted abduction of a girl aged under 14, two years for two counts of stalking under the Harassment Act, and three months for possession of indecent photographs of children, all sentences to run concurrently.
For attempting to pervert the course of justice, Lindsell was given six months, to run consecutively with the previous sentences. He was also sentenced to 18 months for incitement to gross indecency with a girl under 16, also to run consecutively.
Lindsell was ordered to notify police of his whereabouts under the Sex Offenders Act for the next 10 years and a restraining order prohibits him from any employment that brings him into contact with children under 16.
Outside the court, PC Mick White, of Twickenham's public protection unit, said: "Lindsell posed as a teenager in Internet chatrooms where he compiled sexual profiles on over 20 young girls UK-wide. This case should be a message to all parents of the level of threat the Internet can pose to their children. Mobile details, home phone details, and even address details can be swapped in a very short session online."
Det Chief Insp Chris Watts, of Twickenham police station, said: "Lindsell had a system of meeting, grooming and attracting young girls with a clear intent, and that was to commit an act of indecent assault.
"He was obsessive in his pursuit of under-age girls, and continued to pursue them via an interactive cable channel which provided e-mail facilities after we had confiscated his computer."
He said if Lindsell had not been caught, he probably would have proceeded to successfully abduct and assault children. - (PA)