A sexual deviant who was arrested carrying a BB gun and handcuffs when he turned up at a railway station to meet a ‘14-year-old’ girl was prepared for an abduction attempt, a judge said.

Hendrick Groenewoud had been unwittingly chatting online with a decoy when he made the arrangements to meet up for sex in January last year, Teesside Crown Court heard.

When he arrived at Middlesbrough railway station, he was confronted by members of an online vigilante paedophile hunting team before he was arrested by police on January 13, 2022.

Recorder Thomas Moran said: “You had on you a BB gun and some handcuffs and were interviewed by police and said you had gone to meet the girl knowing she was 14.

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“You said your intention was cuddle and watch a film – not to have sex and you denied sexual interest in children and then said maybe a little bit.

“You lied about why you had the handcuffs and a gun. You said you had the handcuffs in case you got into trouble when you were out and the gun because you had problems with vermin.

“I’m in no doubt whatsoever that you intended sexual activity. You live on your own and you have refused to say why you came to the UK.”

The Northern Echo: Hendrick GroenewoudHendrick Groenewoud (Image: Cleveland Police)

Sentencing Groenewoud to 20-months in prison, he added: “I am in no doubt you intended, if necessary, the abduction or detention of the girl – that’s the only sensible interpretation of why you had a handgun and handcuffs with you.”

Jenny Haigh, prosecuting, said Groenewoud had engaged in conversations with two ‘teenage girls’ in December 21. The first he sent an explicit picture of himself after sending sexual messages to her and the second he arranged to meet up with for sex.

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Miss Haigh said he first chatted to 13-year-old ‘Holly’ before sending the explicit photograph. Within days he was chatting to 14-year-old ‘Scarlett’ and arranged to meet her to fulfil his sexual urges.

The 60-year-old, of Portman Street, Middlesbrough, pleaded guilty to two charges of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and a further charge of attempting to meet a girl under 16 years of age following grooming.

Nicci Horton, mitigating, said: “It has taken him sometime to accept how serious these offences are – he now accepts what he has done.”