Brighton: Paedophile who worked as a drag queen jailed for 26 months
A paedophile who worked as a drag queen in Brighton has been jailed for arranging to have sex with a father and his two young children in Wimbledon, south-west London.
Robert Clothier, of Windlesham Road in Brighton, was arrested outside Wimbledon train station on 26 March as he arrived to meet who he thought would be two children, aged 8 and 11, and their father “Mark”.
Instead he was met by police as part of a sting operation and was arrested.
The 37-year-old, known as Lady James, was part of the Brighton drag scene for many years and hosted the cabaret tent at Brighton Pride between 2009 and 2011.
Clothier admitted arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence, making indecent images of children, distributing images of children and possessing prohibited images of children.
He was sentenced on Wednesday at Southwark Crown Court to 26 months, fined £120 and placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years.
Judge Deborah Taylor said: “It’s clear from the chat room logs that you were expressing an interest to engage in sexual activity with the children.
“You arranged to meet Mark, having said you bring protection, including condoms which were chocolate flavoured and glowed in the dark.
“You also bought underwear for the daughter, who you believed to be 11, and other presents to make yourself more acceptable to the children.
“I take into account that you are of previous good character and all the indications are you have not involved yourself in previous offences of this kind.
“But these are serious offences and ones which the courts take very seriously indeed.”
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