Paedophile Jailed for Explicit Videos to ‘Girl’, 13

A paedophile who sent explicit videos and asked for photographs from who he thought was a 13-year-old girl has been jailed for 59 weeks.

Michael Hillman, 66, of Barker Avenue in Abertillery, began messaging what he believed was a teenage girl on Facebook in May, but it was actually a decoy account run by a paedophile hunter group.

Prosecutor Hilary Roberts told the court the messages started innocently on 14 May, but Hillman quickly escalated his behaviour. After moving the conversation to WhatsApp, he sent three pictures of his penis and told the ‘girl’ he was feeling “horny” and “would love to take her to bed”.

He asked for a “sexy picture” and for a picture of her in underwear, and when sent a clothed photo, told her she was “sexy” and said he wanted to have sex with her. Hillman also sent a video of himself masturbating and continued sending sexual messages over three days.

On 18 May, a south Wales paedophile hunter group attended Hillman’s address and contacted police. Officers found him intoxicated and sat next to a large kitchen knife. When they approached, he threatened to stab them if they tried to enter.

Mr Roberts said officers forced entry after becoming concerned when they saw Hillman “stumbling and falling” and arrested him.

In interview, Hillman denied the messaging offences, first claiming his account had been hacked, then saying he was “winding up the paedophile hunter group”. He admitted the public order offence.

The court heard Hillman had 17 previous convictions and was on licence for a 1984 manslaughter conviction. When Judge Matthew Porter-Bryan asked if he had anything to say in mitigation, Hillman replied: “No. All I can say is that it was out of character.”

Judge Porter-Bryan described Hillman as a “dangerous” offender who posed “a serious risk to members of the public” but said an extended sentence wasn’t necessary as he had been recalled on his manslaughter sentence.

Hillman must register as a sex offender for 10 years and was made subject to a sexual harm prevention order for the same period.