Former Next warehouse worker Barry Lester was caught by a group of online child sexual abuse hunters after he traveled to Newcastle to meet a 14-year-old girl he had been chatting with online.

Lester, 31, contacted the profile on the MeetMe app in October 2021 and began a sexually explicit conversation with the girl, despite her repeatedly stating she was only 14 years old.

He asked her about sex, sent her explicit pictures of himself, and discussed having sex with her in a hotel room.

Lester even told the girl he was sterile and wouldn't need to use contraception.

He arranged to meet her at Newcastle Central Station on October 28, 2021, but instead of the girl, he was met by the hunter group who had created the profile. He was arrested and later admitted to a charge of facilitating a child sex offense and breaching the sex offender register rules.

In court, Lester's lawyer stated that he was going through a difficult period in his life, suffering from depression and a bad relationship.

Judge Tahir Khan KC sentenced Lester to two years in prison, placed him on the sex offender register for 10 years, and issued a 10-year sexual harm prevention order to restrict his internet use.