Court: Brighouse man jailed after police officer posed as 12-year-old girl online

In fact, 49-year-old Jeremy Holroyd had been chatting to an undercover police officer posing as the youngster.

Bradford Crown Court heard today (Wednesday) that in November 2020, Holroyd – of Edward Street – was told by the officer that the “girl” he was talking to over a Snapchat account was just 12.

Prosecutor Alisha Kaye outlined details of the online chats between January and May last year, during which Holroyd engaged in sexual conversation and described the girl as his “sweetheart”.

Holroyd, who had no previous convictions, encouraged the girl to send him “naughty photos” and offered to buy her gifts including underwear.

The court heard that Holroyd sent the girl photos of himself as well as videos showing sexual acts.

Miss Kaye said at one point Holroyd suggested a specific date when they could meet up and he asked the girl to send him a naked photo of herself.

The undercover officer stopped the contact in May last year and the following month, Holroyd was arrested.

He admitted a charge of attempting to incite a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity at court in July.

Barrister Caroline Abraham, for Holroyd, said he was motivated to address his behaviour and his guilty plea was the best indication of his remorse.

Judge Ahmed Nadim said Holroyd had very skilfully earned the trust and confidence of someone he thought was a 12-year-old girl.

“You purported to groom her. You offered to buy her gifts and you made arrangements to meet up with her,” the judge said.

“I have no hesitation in concluding that it was your intention to engage in penetrative sexual activity with the child.

“Your offending is aggravated by the fact that there is a substantial age difference between you and the person that you thought you were engaging with.”

Judge Nadim said Holroyd had encouraged the girl to keep their contact “a secret” and he had solicited sexual images from her.

Holroyd will now have to register as a sex offender with the police for the rest of his life and he must comply with a sexual harm prevention order for the next 10 years.