A PAEDOPHILE who offered to pay a ‘girl’ £100 to perform a sex act on her told police officers he did it in a ‘moment of madness’.

Chris Cooper, of Chetton Drive, Murdishaw, also told her how he ‘prefers younger girls’ and asked the supposed 13-year-old girl for naked pictures – before sending an explicit picture of himself.

But the teenage ‘girl’ was actually an undercover law enforcement officer going by the name of ‘Lucy’.

Cooper appeared before Chester Crown Court on Wednesday after pleading guilty to attempting to cause a child aged 13-15 years to watch an image of sexual activity and attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.

Prosecuting, Jayne Norris said how the offences happened in 2019 – but due to a ‘police backlog’ of electronic devices to forensically examine, the case only came before the courts this year.

She said Cooper, 50, initially contacted the ‘girl’ on Kik Messenger where he said: “Want £100 hun? x”

He offered her the money if he could perform a sex act on her and asked questions such as if she was home alone and if he could see her naked.

The pair continued to talk and discussed meeting at a McDonalds near the Trafford Centre.

On one occasion, he sent an explicit image to Lucy.

Ms Norris said how the defendant continued to ask for naked pictures, and when Lucy refused he said: “It’s your loss.”

Cooper was then arrested on October 31, 2019, where he told officers: “It was all a mistake, I was drunk.”

He said that he was on holiday in Greece at the time and was ‘sexually frustrated’.

The paedophile also said how it was a ‘moment of madness’ and that he is a ‘nice, normal guy’.

The court heard how Cooper has no previous convictions.

As the offences were an ‘attempt’, the maximum sentence Cooper could face was two years rather than 10.

Defending, Jeremy Rawson said how his client has a strong work ethic and has shown ‘clear remorse and regret’.

He said: “He realised how stupid he has been.

“He’s spent almost three years in the fearful expectation of what’s going to happen to him in custody.

“That’s a severe sentence in my submission.

“He’s not worn it well.”

Concluding, judge Simon Berkson described the messages as ‘disgusting’ and ‘disgraceful’ and said they were ‘serious offending of its type’.

Cooper was handed a six-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months and must also complete 300 hours of unpaid work.

He must sign on the sex offenders register for seven years and is subject to a sexual harm prevention order for the same length of time.