Ageing predator travelled 250 miles to Leeds to meet young girl for hotel stay
He brought condoms after grooming girl online
An ageing paedophile travelled 250 miles from his home on the south coast to meet an underage girl in Leeds.
Roger Golesworthy had little clue the profile was run by a vigilante group who cornered him after he arrived in West Yorkshire.
They livestreamed the confrontation which was seen by hundreds of thousands of viewers online, Leeds Crown Court was told this week.
The 63-year-old was jailed after admitting a string of offences.
He had targeted two girls, both of which were decoy profiles, prosecutor Zanisha Herbert said.
He contacted the first on June 3 and then another on June 19, both on RandoChat - an app in which age verification and log-in details are not required.
Golesworthy told one he was 49 but was “harmless”. He called one “sexy” and told her he loved her, made lewd sexual suggestions and sent her sexual videos.
He made suggestions about checking into a hotel and pretending to be her father to avoid suspicion.
One of the supposed girls said she was 15 and from Leeds.
On June 30 he made the 250-mile journey from his home on St Helens Down, Hastings, East Sussex, booking an apartment in Leeds.
Confronted by the hunter group and then arrested, officers found condoms that he had brought with him.
Golesworthy appeared in court over a video link from HMP Leeds where he was being held on remand.
He admitted two counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, one of attempting to incite a child into sexual activity, one of arranging or facilitating a child sex offence and one of attempting to meet a girl under 16 following grooming.
Mitigating, Ryan Donoghue said Golesworthy had “never troubled the courts before” and had been a hardworking man.
He worked in London’s stock exchange in the 1980s and set up his own company in 2004, involved in share-trading computer systems.
He sold the company in 2020 and became an employee, but has since been sacked.
Mr Donoghue said his wife has remained loyal since his arrest.
He said there was “evidence of genuine remorse” by Golesworthy.
Judge Neil Clark jailed him for three years and four months, put him on the sex offender register for life and gave him a lifelong sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) to curb his internet use and allow it to be monitored by police.