Man, 60, convicted of child sex offences

A 60-year-old man who tried to meet a child for sex has been convicted of multiple offences.

In September 2021, Anthony Lockhart, previously of Daventry, was in online contact with a woman who he believed to be the mother of an 11-year-old girl.

The conversation went on for a period of weeks with Lockhart also talking to the daughter and arranging to meet them both for the purposes of sexually abusing the girl.

However, what he didn’t know was that the mother and daughter were actually undercover police officers and when he arrived to the location agreed in Daventry, he was arrested.

In interview, Lockhart claimed to have just gone along with the conversation so he could gather evidence and later report it to police, however when officers searched his home, numerous sex toys were found which were consistent with intentions to abuse a child.

He would go on to be charged with arranging/facilitating the commission of a child sex offence, attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and possession of extreme pornography.

He pleaded guilty to the offence at Northampton Crown Court in January this year and was sentenced last week (February 10) at the same court to one year in prison.

Detective Sergeant Helena Congreve, said: “Although the mother and daughter in this case were not real people, this case has exposed Anthony Lockhart for the dangerous predator he is.

“I am really pleased we were able to bring him to justice before he harmed a real child and I hope this case demonstrates our proactivity.

“We will not simply wait for offenders to come to us, but infiltrate their world in order to protect our children in this county from harm.”