Lee Norman – Liverpool

A depraved paedophile who admitted a catalogue of child sex offences is a ‘highly dangerous’ individual say police.

Lee Norman arranged to meet who he thought was an adult with the intent to sexually abuse a 12-year-old girl – but instead he was met by undercover police officers.

The 47-year-old, of Orford Avenue, appeared before Liverpool Crown Court for sentencing.

This was after he pleaded guilty to a catalogue of child sex offences – including the commission of a child sex offence, three counts of making indecent images of children, three counts of possessing indecent images of children, possessing extreme pornographic images, and encouraging the commission of a child sex offence.

The case was split into two lots of offending.

Prosecuting, Chris Taylor said how an undercover officer was using a profile on a website known for sharing extreme pornography.

Mr Taylor said how on this platform, users are able to share and view pornographic videos that can be searched using key words.

The undercover officer’s pseudonym was Becky and they advertised themselves as having a ‘high functioning 10-year-old child with autism’ called Belle.

In July of last year, Norman sent Becky a message saying he was in to ‘all kind of things’.

The conversation quickly went onto another messaging device which focuses on privacy, with no personal data required to sign up.

The undercover officer sent a photograph of who they claimed was Belle to the defendant and he responded with a sickening sexual remark.

Mr Taylor said the conversation then moved onto Belle being engaged in sexual activities and Norman said he would ‘be open to observe’. He asked Becky if she would perform a sex act on who he thought was a 10-year-old girl to ‘see if she would like it’.

He then suggested she used a sex toy and said he ‘loved the thought of it’.

Norman was arrested at his home address on October 21, 2025, by officers from the online child abuse team. This is when the investigation began.

A Section 32 PACE search was conducted at the address, but nothing was seized.

Norman was interviewed under caution by where he answered no comment to all questions asked.

The second part of the case happened in April of last year. Again, on a website known for extreme pornography, Norman had an account where shared he had a sexual interest in children on the biography part of his profile.

He believed he was talking to a member of the public and confirmed he had a sexual interest in children. Subsequent chats indicated that Norman wanted to sexually abuse a 12-year-old girl. He said he would engage in whatever the undercover officer wanted.

The pair agreed to meet at Starbucks at Burtonwood Service Station to discuss planning the abuse, however plain-clothed police officers were waiting for him.

He was arrested on arrival and taken to Runcorn Custody Suite.

Norman’s vehicle was searched and nothing was seized. A search of his home address at Orford Avenue led to numerous items being seized. This led to the discovery of indecent images of children.

Recorder Alex Leach handed the defendant a prison sentence of 10 years and eight months.