Leighton Camara – Prestatyn

An NSPCC helpline manager who arranged to meet a boy he believed was just 14 for sexual activity walked into a police trap after turning up for the encounter.

Leighton Camara, 38, of St Francis Close, Prestatyn, believed he had been exchanging sexual messages with a teenage boy called “Sam”.

But there was no 14-year-old waiting for him.

“Sam” was actually an undercover law-enforcement operative — and when Camara arrived at the arranged meeting place in Rhyl, police were waiting instead.

Mold Crown Court heard that, at the time of the offending, Camara was employed as a manager of an NSPCC helpline. He also told police that he volunteered at a youth group.

Despite the disturbing circumstances of the offence, Camara avoided immediate imprisonment after being handed a 15-month prison sentence suspended for two years.

The judge warned him he had come “incredibly close” to being sent straight to prison.

Prosecutor Mark Connor told the court that an operative was posing as a 14-year-old boy called Sam on Grindr when Camara made contact on November 15, 2023.

The conversation subsequently moved to Snapchat.

The court heard that even after Camara was told “Sam” was 14 years old, the messages became sexualised.

Camara asked for a photograph and described “Sam” as a “hot lad”, before discussing sexual acts he would perform if they met.

He eventually arranged to meet the supposed teenager at a location on Ffordd Derwen in Rhyl at 8.30pm.

Camara turned up. So did the police.

Officers arrested him in a car park after, prosecutors said, he arrived believing he was about to meet “Sam”.

When questioned, Camara claimed he thought the person in the photograph looked between 16 and 18 and maintained that he had only intended to “say hello”.

Camara admitted arranging or facilitating the commission of an offence of sexual activity with a child.

The court also heard that alcohol and cocaine were concerning features of the case. There was no separate penalty for possession of the Class A drug.

His Honour Judge Simon Mills sentenced Camara to 15 months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years.

He was made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and will be subject to sex offender notification requirements for ten years.

Camara was also ordered to complete the Building Better Choices programme, undertake up to ten days of rehabilitation activity and wear an alcohol abstinence monitoring tag for 120 days.

A man working as a manager for a helpline run by one of Britain’s best-known child-protection charities had arranged a sexual encounter with someone he believed was a 14-year-old boy.

Instead, he walked straight into the hands of police.