Five years in jail for paedophile who failed to learn his lesson
A paedophile who was caught chatting to “girls” online within months of being spared jail for doing exactly the same has finally been jailed
Frederick Weeks, 56, offered to teach a 12-year-old about sex and paid compliments to other “girls”, who he thought were in their early teens. He was caught trying to meet one of the youngsters at Swindon railway station last year.
But the youngsters with whom he exchanged the disgusting WhatsApp messages were not children but, in fact, a South Wales Police officer and members of paedophile hunter groups Angels for Innocents and Justice 4 Kids.
Jailing him for four years and nine months at Swindon Crown Court, Judge Peter Crabtree said: “Your offending reveals a blatant disregard [for the] sexual harm prevention order and a determination to communicate with young females between the ages of 12 and 14.”
Prosecutor Stephanie Painter earlier told the court that Warminster man Weeks was given a two year suspended sentence last May for attempted sexual communication with a child and similar offences.
Within weeks he’d breached that suspended sentence and a sexual harm prevention order requiring him to register digital devices with the police.
From June he was in possession of Alcatel mobile phones he’d not told the police about. He bought one of the unregistered phones the day after police seized another mobile.
Between September and the start of November he breached the order by using the internet to attempt to contact someone he believed to be under-16. He initially met them on website Say Hi, before moving the conversations onto WhatsApp.
Ms Painter said Weeks had sent WhatsApp messages to a decoy account named in court only as Erin, talking to her in explicit detail about sex. He believed her to be 12. On October 30, he said she would have saved up enough the following month to visit and he would find them somewhere quiet where they could “kiss and cuddle”.
He repeatedly called another girl, Paige, “baby” and paid her compliments. Again, he thought she was 12. He told her he’d had a 15-year-old girlfriend when he was 25.
A third girl, Molly, was told by Weeks that she was gorgeous and he could “easily love her” if she was older. He believed she was 14.
On October 31 last year he travelled to Swindon to meet what he thought was a fourth girl, 13-year-old Catherine, but was met at the railway station by members of vigilante group Angels for Innocents.
A day earlier, he asked the “girl” if she’d be his girlfriend and said they could find somewhere quiet to kiss when they met up. He asked her to keep the meeting secret.
Weeks, of Cotswold Close, Warminster, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to breaching his sexual harm prevention order, attempted sexual communication with a child and attempting to meet a child after grooming.
He appeared in court via video link from HMP Bullingdon.
A 10 year sexual harm prevention order remains in force. Weeks must register as a sex offender for life.
January 2021
Judge orders fresh report to examine whether sex offender is ‘dangerous’
A judge ordered the probation service to look into whether a convicted sex offender should be found to be dangerous.
Frederick Weeks, 56, was caught chatting online to decoy social media accounts run by paedophile hunter groups and undercover police officers within months of being given a suspended sentence for child grooming offences in May.
He had been due to be sentenced at Swindon Crown Court on Friday for two breaches of his sexual harm prevention order, three counts of attempted sexual communication with a child and attempting to meet a 13-year-old “girl” for sex on October 31, 2020.
But after reading a probation report detailing his compliance with the earlier order, Judge Peter Crabtree ordered a fresh report.
It will look specifically at whether Weeks should be assessed as a dangerous offender, meaning he could serve longer in prison and be subject to a lengthier period on licence.
The judge stressed he was not giving any indication of whether he was going to rule Weeks dangerous, but said he wanted to explore the question “for obvious public protection reasons”.
Weeks, of Cotswold Close, Warminster, but appearing before the court via video link from HMP Bullingdon, will be sentenced on March 12.
Tom Wilkins appeared for the Crown Prosecution Service. Alec Small represented Weeks.
Last year, Wiltshire Police promised that Weeks, who was given a two year suspended prison sentence, would be carefully monitored to ensure he would not re-offend.
June 2020
Frederick Weeks was given a two-year prison sentence suspended for two years
A man from Warminster has been given a suspended prison sentence after pleading guilty to grooming offences.
Frederick Weeks, 55, appeared at Swindon Crown Court last Friday (29/05) and pleaded guilty to attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, attempting to incite a girl aged 13 to 15 to engage in sexual activity and attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act.
He was given a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years, and was issued with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order which will remain in place for ten years and is managed by the Wiltshire Police’s Public Protection Unit.
The charges relate to Weeks communicating with someone online who he believed to be a 14-year-old girl but was actually an adult who reported it to the police.
