Paedophile jailed for the second time after being caught by vigilante group sending disgusting messages to '14-year-old girl'
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A paedophile who had just been released early from prison was snared again when he attempted to meet up with what he thought was an underage girl for sex.
Mark Thornton explained to the '14-year-old' he had 'been a naughty boy in the past' and had been 'grounded in a different way' after serving around half of his two year sentence.
Thornton, 51, had previously been caught coercing 'young girls' into meeting for sex before being snared red-handed in an Asda car park last year.
The paedophile was sentenced in September 2016 for engaging in explicit chats with what he thought were two 13-year-old girls and arranged to meet one to take her virginity.
(Image: (c) North News & Pictures ltd)
(Image: (c) North News & Pictures ltd)
Within months of his release the unemployed father was, again, using apps to communicate with a young girl and meet for sex.
The 51-year-old acted more cautiously this time, claiming he was scared.
After early release in 2017, Thornton told a decoy he had been caught before and had to trust the 14-year-old was a real girl before meeting.
He spoke of his time in jail, complained how bad the food was and said "I did plenty of crying too".
Thornton stated: "This will be my second Christmas on my own with no one to spoil," before calling the decoy, 14-year-old 'Samantha' 'sexy' and 'beautiful'.
Thornton used the app 'Waplog' to chat to the underage girl set up by vigilante group Dark Justice.
The app boasts of helping people find the hottest person in their area with the same interests, quickly and easily.
The app is intended for over 17 year olds but can easily be signed up to.
Thornton believed he was talking to a 14-year-old girl Samantha when Dark Justice reported the paedophile in a Morrisons car park.
(Image: (c) North News & Pictures ltd)
Thornton attempted to meet the youngster at Darlington train station earlier in day but got scared and re-arranged the encounter, to be caught hours later by Dark Justice.
At Teesside Crown Court on Friday, Thornton of Chandos Street, Darlington, pleaded guilty to attempting to meet a girl under 16-years-old following grooming and two counts of breaching a sexual harm prevention order.
Thornton was sentenced to another two year sentence and has been ordered to sign the sex offenders register for 10 years.
A Dark Justice spokesman said: "He messaged us first, he clearly hasn't learnt his lesson.
"He started talking in a sexual way but he was more cautious this time.
"He was scared to get caught again, he was telling me about his time in prison.
"He deserves everything he gets but he also didn't receive any help in prison.
(Image: (c) North News & Pictures ltd)
"He has been given two years in prison again, it clearly isn't working.
"Come Christmas next year he'll be out and back on the apps.
"Who's to say it won't be a real child next time, they should be given longer sentences so they can get help."