Paedophile caught by undercover police officer.

Sex Offender Sentenced to Prison for Online Child Abuse

A convicted sex offender, Leonard Vandervail, has been sentenced to three years in prison after confessing to his sexual interest in children on a dating app. Vandervail, 43, of Bournemouth, believed he was messaging a 22-year-old woman with three children but was actually communicating with an undercover police officer.

During their online conversation, Vandervail expressed his desire to meet the woman's children, specifically asking about their ages. He then admitted to having previously abused a four-year-old child, stating that this happened regularly and he was a "genuine paedophile." Vandervail also said he would do anything with the children, indicating no boundaries.

The defendant, who is already a known sex offender with a previous sexual harm prevention order, arranged to meet the woman and her "children." Police identified Vandervail from a picture he sent and subsequently arrested him.

In mitigation, Vandervail's defense attorney argued that the harm was to a fictitious child and that his comments were fantasies made under the influence of alcohol and cannabis. He claimed that Vandervail had completed a sex offender program but had regressed to his previous behavior.

Judge Robert Pawson, presiding over the case, acknowledged Vandervail's troubling history of sexual attraction to children, spanning over a decade. The judge sentenced Vandervail to three years in prison, imposed an indefinite sexual harm prevention order, and placed him on the sex offender register for life.