Hastings paedophile Marcus Osbourne confronted by COBRA

Marcus Osbourne was confronted by paedophile hunter group Children Online Battling Real Abuse (Cobra) in Hastings.

The 50-year-old was seen in the video on the doorstep and was challenged over Whatsapp messages he sent to a decoy girl.

Osbourne told the decoy account he needed to “stop being creepy” but couldn’t help himself.

He engaged in sexual chat and invited her to perform sexual acts on herself.

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“No matter how hard I try to hide it, you are a little girl,” he said.

At Hove Crown Court Osbourne admitted two counts of an adult engaging in sexual communication with a child and possession of 21 indecent images of children.

He was given a community order and put on the sex offenders register.

The father-of-one was rumbled by Cobra whose volunteers confronted him.

In the video footage Osbourne at first tries to deny having sexual communication, then denied knowing how old the girl was.

But a woman warns him that he was told about the girl’s age, and said she could read out the sick messages Osbourne sent in full.

Osbourne then crumbled. He said: “I know I have done wrong. I have been thinking about it a lot and need to stop.”

He promised to leave internet chatrooms and delete contacts from his phone.

“It is not something I do normally,” he claimed, and was challenged: “How did it happen then?”

Osbourne claimed: “I just got talking. I live alone and get lonely. I started talking and it got, probably got, a little bit too far.”

“Way too far, by some of the things you have said,” the volunteer replied.

Hastings paedophile Marcus Osbourne appeared in court and admitted being an adult engaging in sexual communication with a child. A video from Children Online Battling Real Abuse (Cobra) shows the moment he was confronted

Cobra explained the impact child sexual abuse has on victims and families, and reported Osbourne to the police.

In court he was ordered to complete 40 rehabilitation sessions with probation.

The judge put Osbourne, of South Terrace, Hastings, on the sex offenders register for five years and imposed a sexual harm prevention order which restricts his access to children and computer equipment.

Osbourne’s Acer laptop and iPhone were seized and ordered to be destroyed.

Hastings paedophile Marcus Osbourne appeared in court and admitted being an adult engaging in sexual communication with a child. A video from Children Online Battling Real Abuse (Cobra) shows the moment he was confronted

After the sentencing Cobra said: “Mr Osbourne is one of many adults using social media to contact children and introduce them to damaging material, with the intention of luring children to meet up.

“Marcus was in possession of images of real children being harmed. We are disappointed at his sentence and others that are handed out.

“Predators are on every platform children are on, looking to exploit them for sexual gratification. Chat apps are very dangerous.

“We urge parents and guardians to take an interest in their child’s presence online today. They are safest when not exposed to the internet.”

To find out more about the video search for Children Online Battling Real Abuse on Facebook.