Retired special constable wanted to film sex with children in Yorkshire hotel room

Pensioner James McMurdo targeted youngsters online and made “vile” sexual suggestions, saying he wanted to meet them and sent them pictures of his genitals. Luckily, the paedophile was chatting to hunter groups looking to snare predators online. They eventually confronted him about his behaviour.

The 77-year-old appeared at Leeds Crown Court this week where he admitted three counts of inciting children to engage in sexual activity. He also admitted possessing a Category C indecent image of a child and three extreme pornographic images involving animals and people, after police seized his internet devices.

He was jailed for 26 months.

McMurdo, who served as a special constable for more than 20 years and was known for his voluntary work for a homeless charity, began contacting the profiles of several ‘girls’ through a messenger app in 2020.

He was told by the decoy profiles that they were aged 12, 13 and 14. Prosecutor John Batchelor said that within six minutes of contacting the 12-year-old, he asked her about sex.

He then said he wanted to meet her in Leeds, and go to a hotel room for sex where he would take videos and photos and sell them “to make money”. He also wanted one of the other ‘girls’ he had contacted to join them, along with another man.

McMurdo, of St Vincent Road, Pudsey, also sent lewd pictures and requested they send photos back. The hunter groups confronted him on August 8 and he was arrested shortly after.

Mitigating, Gillian Batts said there was no evidence that he had even looked into booking a hotel room. She said he suffered from depression and was also physically unwell.

Judge Geoffrey Marson KC told McMurdo: “The nature of the conversation was vile and was sexually and graphically explicit. You repeatedly asked to meet. There was quite disgusting sexual talk. You said you would film it and money would be made. This sort of behaviour is beyond belief. There’s no alternative to a custodial sentence.”

He gave him a 10-year sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) to limit his internet use, and ordered him to sign the sex offenders register for 10 years.