A paedophile has been jailed for two years after he was snared by the child protection organisation Net Justice who live-streamed the confrontation on Facebook.

Martin Limbert was almost 60 when he sent photos of his penis to what he believed was a girl of 13 and said he wanted her to stay in his bed naked overnight.

Prosecutor Chloe Hudson told Bradford Crown Court today that a women volunteer from Net Justice put up a false profile of the child “Lisa” that Limbert found on an online dating site for over 18s.

She said straight away that she was 13 years of age and repeated that at least 11 more times, the court was told.

Limbert said he was 47 and sent her indecent images of himself on WhatsApp. In 48 hours, he had messaged seven sexual photos and two videos.

Members of Net Justice went to his home on June 7, 2018, and streamed the confrontation on Facebook Live, Miss Hudson said.

The police were called and after he was arrested, officers found messages from him including: “When you stop here, you get naked.”

He had also sent “Lisa” photos of his penis and himself committing a sex act.

Limbert, now 62, of Rose Mount, Halifax, told the police he regretted what he had done and had begun to suspect that “Lisa” was a hoax.

He said he had no sexual interest in children and would never have turned up to meet the girl.

The court was told that Limbert’s solicitors at the magistrates’ court at first thought he might run the defence of entrapment.

He went on to plead guilty to attempting to communicate sexually with a child of 13, attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act, and attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity, all between April and June, 2018.

Andrew Walker said in mitigation that there wasn’t a real child victim. They were attempted offences with no prospect of any sexual activity occurring.

There had been a delay of almost three years in bringing the case to sentence. Limbert’s first court appearance was on March 3 this year.

He was effectively of good character with no sexual offences on his record.

Once his electronic equipment had been examined, no indecent images of children were found. He was on an over 18s website when he came across the false profile.

Limbert had lost his employment and his relationship and now led an isolated life, Mr Walker said.

Miss Hudson explained that the case was delayed because other electronic equipment was seized from Limbert when he was arrested. Although nothing incriminating was found on it, there was a long queue to get the work done, made worse by the coronavirus lockdown.

Judge Andrew Hatton jailed Limbert for two years and made a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for ten years, He must also sign on the sex offender register for ten years.