AN ONLINE pervert who sent a naked picture of himself wearing just a black cowboy’s hat to an underage decoy has been jailed for eight months.

David Edwards, 62, was trapped by vigilante groups who set up the fake profile and recorded his web chat. They confronted him on a live stream before contacting the police.

Edwards, who admitted five charges of attempting to incite a child under 16 to engage in sexual activity, was jailed for eight months and Judge Niclas Parry told him: “There wasn’t a Daisy (the fake online profile), but you knew what the age was and it didn’t deter you.

“The chat log is long and very sexualised and there was an exchange of an image.

“You clearly knew what you were doing was wrong.”

Prosecuting barrister Sion Ap Mihangel told Mold Crown Court that a member of an online-based organisation, the Shadow Hunter group, initially created the profile of Daisy, which was claimed to be a 13-year-old from Kent, and began conversing with a man called “David from Wales”.

The conversation was recorded for 10 days and passed onto another group called “Leave Our Kids Alone”, who then attended at Edwards’ Buckley home.

“It is clear that he was aware of Daisy’s age and what he was doing was illegal as he instructed her to delete the messages,” said the barrister.

Edwards asked the “girl” whether she would perform sex acts on him and herself.

He sent her a picture of him “wearing nothing other than a cowboy hat and called himself Uncle Dave” said Mr Ap Mihangel.

Edwards also told the “girl” to “post him her knickers”.

When he was arrested police seized his computer equipment and the cowboy hat as well as some underwear.

Edwards said he was under the impression the web page was for adults, but admitted he believed “Daisy” was 13.

He insisted he had not got any sexual gratification from his actions and claimed to have been in the pub at the time where he was feeling the effects of drink.

The underwear, he said, was sent to him by a fellow bisexual friend who like him was practised cross-dressing.

Edwards, now of no fixed abode, was said to have made himself “ineligible” for a community sentence.

“He says he won’t benefit from such an order,” said defence barrister Simon Mintz.

“He is a naïve offender who is in poor health and socially isolated.

“The effects of the “live screening” (by the group) means he doesn’t feel safe in Buckley and he is going to have to have a fresh start when he is released.”

The judge also imposed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order on Edwards and told him to sign the Sex Offenders Register.