A United Kingdom court has sentenced a 25-year-old Nigerian student, Anderson Ishiekwene, to three years' imprisonment after finding him guilty of attempting to groom a child for sexual purposes.
The conviction followed his trial at Newcastle Crown Court, where prosecutors said he arranged to meet a person he believed was a 14-year-old girl in Washington, England. The profile, however, was operated by an online vigilante group that targets suspected child predators.
Investigators told the court that Ishiekwene, who arrived in the UK on a student visa in August 2025 and resided in Sunderland, first contacted the account through Facebook before moving the conversation to WhatsApp.
During an eight-day exchange, he allegedly sent more than 300 pages of messages despite repeatedly being informed that the supposed teenager was 14 years old. Prosecutors said he discussed her school life, made sexually explicit remarks, requested intimate photographs and sent an explicit image of himself.
The court also heard that he encouraged the girl to erase their conversations and insisted that exchanging explicit images was normal in a romantic relationship after she declined his requests.
According to the prosecution, the pair agreed to meet on January 10 at the Galleries Shopping Centre in Washington. On arrival at the location, Ishiekwene was confronted by members of the decoy group before police officers arrested him.
Although he denied attempting to meet a child for sexual activity, a jury found him guilty after a three-day trial.
He had earlier admitted to attempting sexual communication with a child.
Delivering judgment, Judge Robert Spragg said the defendant's actions were intended to pave the way for sexual activity with a minor.
The court also imposed an indefinite registration on the sex offenders register and issued a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
The judge added that Ishiekwene is expected to face automatic deportation after completing his prison sentence.
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