Parents warned not to turn vigilante after Leeds mum posing as 13 year-old snares internet pervert

The advice was issued after she turned detective to trap an internet paedophile preying on her teenage daughter.

The mother logged into a web chatroom pretending to be her daughter and arranged a meeting with Philip James Brown. Once she had his mobile number she handed the details to police who then arrested him, a court was told.

A spokeswoman for the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre said an increasing number of parents were taking this course of action.

She said: "We don't encourage this type of action. Our message to parents is if you fear your child is at risk you should report it to us or the police who can take the appropriate action.

"They will collect the evidence in the appropriate manner. Saying that, it must be quite terrifying for a parent to discover their child is being groomed and want to do something about it.

"We sympathise but this is an area for highly specialised law enforcement."

The spokeswoman said it appeared the woman in this case had passed on information to the police who took the appropriate action.

Brown, 29, from Graham Drive, Airedale, Castleford, was placed under a three year community order with supervision and put on the sex offenders' register when he appeared at Leeds Crown Court yesterday. He must also undertake unpaid work.

The mother of the victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said: "It makes me feel sick to the stomach. Although he never got as far as meeting my daughter, I feel like he has taken her virginity because she sent him photos of her naked."

The court heard that in June last year the mother discovered naked photographs of her daughter on the family computer.

When she questioned her daughter she said she had been asked to pose for the pictures by a man to whom she was chatting online.

Using the girl's password, the mum went on the internet and posing as her daughter, she quickly tracked down Brown.

She arranged to meet him at a supermarket and took his mobile telephone number. He was traced by police and arrested, the court was told.

Brown admitted one count of attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming, 10 counts of making indecent images of children and one count of possessing indecent images.