Castleford man handed 14-year jail sentence at Leeds Crown Court after attempting to arrange to sexually abuse children

Petar Hristov made contact with a woman online and then went on to “demonstrate serious and disturbing sexual interest in very young children”, a West Yorkshire Police statement read.

He believed he was in contact with a mother who could provide access to young children but was in fact speaking to officers from the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Organised Crime Unit.

Leeds Crown Court heard that he had asked the woman to subject children to sexual abuse and then arranged to meet her with the view to sexually abusing the children himself.

It was part of a covert investigation which led to him being found guilty of intentionally causing or inciting the sexual exploitation of a child under the age of 13 at Leeds Crown Court.

He was arrested by West Yorkshire Police’s Online Investigations Team in February and examination of his devices then revealed he was in possession of an indecent moving image of a child.

As well as the 14-year sentence, he was also given a lifetime Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

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Speaking after the sentencing, Det Chf Insp Andrew Howard of the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Organised Crime Unit said: “We are pleased that Hristov has received a sentence that reflects the nature of his offending.

“I have no doubt that Hristov, through his online activities, posed a danger to children if he had not been caught.

“We would always encourage people to report any illegal activity relating to child sexual exploitation which they may come across during normal online activity.”