David Pincott, a 42-year-old convicted paedophile from Wales, has been sentenced to four years and eight months in prison after travelling from Cardiff to Edinburgh to meet an 11-year-old girl he had groomed online. He pretended to be a 14-year-old boy on a messaging app and sent the vulnerable child sexualised messages.
Grooming and Arrest
Pincott began communicating with the 11-year-old victim, who disclosed she was experiencing suicidal feelings. He quickly escalated to graphic sexual fantasies, telling her he "wanted to be in bed with her" and wanted to perform penetrative sexual acts. He also suggested visiting her for her birthday.
Simultaneously, Pincott was grooming a decoy named "Carys," who was actually an undercover police officer posing as a 12-year-old girl. He told Carys he would "love to see her naked" and asked if she "liked older men." He sent pictures of his torso, requested images of her in underwear, and asked about her school uniform. The conversation ended when he arranged to meet her.
Pincott was arrested for his conversations with the decoy but released on bail. He then travelled from Cardiff to Edinburgh and visited the 11-year-old girl's home, leaving a carrier bag containing a toy owl, a necklace, and a card.
Indecent Images and Previous Convictions
Examination of his phone revealed 543 category A images, 116 category B images, and 4,693 category C images of children as young as four, downloaded between 2015 and 2023. Sexualised images exchanged with the 11-year-old had disappeared via the app and could not be retrieved.
Pincott had a previous conviction in 2017 for making indecent images of children, for which he received a three-year community order.
Sentencing
Pincott pleaded guilty to engaging in sexual communication with a child, attempting to meet a girl following grooming, attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, and making indecent images. In mitigation, his defence said he had not reoffended since his arrest and had "removed himself from this lifestyle," noting his background in woodland conservation and that he is "happiest when away from people and alone in the woods."
Judge Lucy Crowther sentenced him to four years and eight months imprisonment, with a lifetime sex offender notification requirement and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 20 years.
