William Grassby

An "incredibly depraved" 49-year-old man who tried to arrange meetings with children for sex has been jailed for two years after being caught in two separate sting operations.

William Grassby was handed the custodial sentence at Sheffield Crown Court after pleading guilty to two counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and one count of attempting to meet a boy under the age of 16 following grooming.

The court heard that Grassby was first targeted by an online decoy group, who posed as a 14-year-old boy. Grassby conversed with the group for a week before driving to the Meadowhall shopping centre in Sheffield, expecting to meet the child for sex.

While under active police investigation for the Meadowhall incident, Grassby targeted another child online—unwittingly communicating with an undercover police officer posing as a 12-year-old boy. He sent numerous sexual messages and actively tried to arrange an off-camera meeting with the officer. A subsequent search of Grassby's electronic devices uncovered extensive sexual communication with individuals suspected to be children.

Recorder Ian Mullarkey noted that Grassby had previously completed a sex offenders' treatment program as part of a prior sentence, yet went on to commit further offenses while under investigation. The judge stated he had "no confidence" that Grassby had a realistic prospect of rehabilitation.

Investigating officer Sarah Anderson condemned Grassby's actions, emphasizing that he was fully aware of the victims' purported ages and deliberately arranged meetings in areas out of view of CCTV cameras.

In addition to the two-year prison term, Grassby was issued a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) and will remain on the Sex Offenders Register for a decade.