A convicted sex offender has been brought to justice for new crimes after he deleted sexual conversations with someone he thought was a 12-year-old boy.

Simon Wilders, of Chaston Road, Great Shelford, Cambridge, was tracked down after officers from another force uncovered chat details with the ‘young boy’, who was in fact an undercover police officer, in September.

The 38-year-old told the boy he had been, “waiting for the right 12-year-old”, and had discussed travelling to meet up and also booking a hotel.

Officers were able to get a phone number from the chat and also identify Wilders from a photo he had used.

Wilders was arrested at his home on October 22 but no phone was found. Further enquiries revealed he had sold two phones at a shop in Cambridge just a few weeks previously.

In police interview Wilders answered “no comment” to all questions.

Wilders had been handed a two-year suspended sentence in 2016 following six convictions of causing a boy to engage in sexual activity.

He was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years with various conditions, including to confirm his details were correct once a year.

Wilders failed to do so, despite two home visits and a reminder letter by officers from the force’s Public Protection Unit (PPU) in September.

In addition to the above offences, a relative called police in April 2019 after an argument in which Wilders had stormed out from a house but left a phone behind.

The relative checked the phone and discovered indecent images of children, so called the police on the same device.

When arrested, Wilders claimed the phone didn’t belong to him. However, the same number had been used by Wilders to report a crime in January that same year.

The phone also contained photos of Wilders and had the number stored under ‘me’ in contacts.

There were a total of 44 indecent images of children on the phone, including 36 category C images, four category B images and four category A images – the most severe.

A tablet was also seized from Wilders’s home which contained evidence that Wilders must have also messaged another teenage boy.

Wilders claimed the phone belonged to the relative who had called police and denied any knowledge of the indecent images.

However, Wilders pleaded guilty to seven charges at Peterborough Crown Court on March 23.

The charges included failing to comply with the Sex Offenders Register, four counts of making incident images of children and two counts of sexual communication with a child.

DC Richard Newman, from the force’s PPU, said: “Wilders’s behaviour was completely inappropriate and he clearly failed to learn his lesson from his previous convictions of a similar nature.

“Using the internet to target young and vulnerable people will not be tolerated.

“Alongside this was the discovery of indecent images on the phone seized. Wilders’s family member did exactly the right thing in coming to us with her concerns.

“A child is victimised not only when an indecent image is taken, but also every time it is viewed or shared.

“Protecting young people from harm is one of our top priorities and we will continue to work tirelessly to keep our communities safe.”

Wilders was sentenced at the same court today (April 26) where he was handed a total of three years and 10 months in prison.

He was also handed a 10-year restraining order and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) for the same time period.

Anyone who is concerned someone may have been convicted of a sex offence and could be posing a risk to someone, can apply for disclosure information through Sarah’s Law: https://bit.ly/3dQQxbu

For information and advice about child protection, including how to report any suspicions or concerns, visit the force’s dedicated web page: https://bit.ly/3aDjGVq