Sentence: 10 months imprisonment suspended for 2 years, 100 hours unpaid work, 10-year police registration, 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order
Stephen Briscoe, aged 60, of Adshead Road, Dudley, was confronted by the online child predator hunting team Broken Dreams at his home in January 2024. The team presented evidence of his communications between December 16, 2023, and January 20, 2024, where he attempted to engage in sexual communication with a person he believed to be a child aged 13-15, for the purpose of obtaining sexual gratification. The communications were intended to encourage sexual exchanges, including sending images of adult pornography and asking for indecent images of a child. He did not reasonably believe the child to be 16 or over. The encounter was live-streamed on Facebook for 50 minutes until West Midlands Police arrived. He was charged with several offences, but some were withdrawn at the first hearing.