Sex-chat shame of pilot

A paedophile pilot from Oldham was caught by an undercover police officer posing on the internet as a 12–year–old girl.

Craig Seville (37) of Mayfield Avenue, Springhead, was on bail over a separate probe into child sex offences when he started a conversation with the officer.

He later asked the “girl” if she was interested in sexual experimentation - and asked if she would like to meet.

Another time Seville, who gave his real age, exposed himself to her on a webcam, Preston Crown Court heard.

He committed the offences last September, while he was being investigated by Greater Manchester Police. His email account had been flagged when he entered internet chatrooms and engaged in sexual talk with young people.

Seville, who had several successful businesses as a pilot and had flown all around the world with past employers DHL, was jailed for three years and four months after admitting a range of sexual offences.

Frances McEntee, prosecuting, said police seized Seville’s laptop computer at his home last February.

He admitted using chatrooms to talk to teenage girls for 10 years, but was “merely curious”.

He conceded he spoke to 14–year–old girls to ask what they liked sexually, said the prosecutor.

Over 430 indecent images of children – some of the most serious level five category – were found on the computer. It was also discovered he had been involved in Skype messaging with users who appeared to be under 16. He had also distributed indecent images to online users.

Seville pleaded guilty to attempting to engage in sexual activity with a child, attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act and distributing indecent images of children.

Barbara Webster, defending, said her client was a man of previous good character.

“He maintains he entered this fantasy world to take him out of the real world,” she said.

Judge Stuart Baker told him: “There is no fantasy world involving abuse of children. The children depicted in the images are real children being appallingly abused by adults elsewhere in the world.”