Joshua Camplin (Image: Gwent Police)
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A convicted sex offender who attempted to arrange a sexual encounter with someone he believed was a 14-year-old boy has been jailed for seven years.
Joshua Camplin, 33, of Chepstow Road, Newport, was snared by an undercover police officer who had been posing as a teenager on a dating platform, Cardiff Crown Court heard.
Criminal history
Camplin, a former travelling fairground worker, had previously been jailed for 12 months in 2019 after being convicted of possessing indecent images of children. A 10-year sexual harm prevention order was put in place at the time of that conviction.
The undercover operation
Prosecutor Kathryn Lane explained how Camplin was drawn in by the decoy after he signed up to a dating site called Fab Boys, where he began chatting with a profile operated by the undercover officer posing as a boy named “Oliver.”
Their conversations later moved to email, the court heard.
Online communications
Miss Lane told the court that once Camplin discovered “Oliver” was 14, his behaviour escalated.
She said: “After finding out that ‘Oliver’ was 14, he started soliciting images from him.
“The defendant asked to see pictures of his sexy a***.”
Camplin had also sent the officer a photograph of his penis, the court was told.
Miss Lane added: “The defendant encouraged him to travel to Newport so that they could have oral sex.”
Planned meeting and arrest
After “Oliver” indicated he was travelling to Newport but did not arrive at the city’s bus station, officers located Camplin outside Newport train station and placed him under arrest.
Breaching his order
Camplin had also breached his sexual harm prevention order by operating under the false name James Brown.
His offences were committed between January 26 and March 3.
Guilty pleas
The defendant admitted four offences – attempting to arrange or facilitate the commission of a child sex offence, attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, and two counts of breaching a sexual harm prevention order.
Sentencing
The court was told there had been an “escalation in the defendant’s offending” and that Camplin has an “entrenched sexual interest in children.”
Darren Bishop, representing the defendant, said on his client’s behalf: “He is the primary carer for his disabled partner.
“The defendant’s best mitigation is his guilty pleas.”
Recorder Simon Hughes told Camplin he had been assessed as posing a “high risk of harm to children” before handing down a seven-year prison sentence.
Gwent Police have released Camplin’s photograph.
