A “DANGEROUS and predatory” paedophile threatened to stab and rape a carer while talking to what he thought was a young girl online.

Karl Henry has been jailed for five years and must remain on licence for a further four after sending sexual messages online.

Henry was stung by a group of paedophile hunters after sending hundreds of sexual messages to four different profiles online, all claiming to be children under 13, between July and November last year.

The predator, of Great Ranton, Pitsea, already had a sexual harm prevention order in place on him meaning if he breached it he would go straight to jail.

This followed him being sentenced in February last year for performing sex acts on himself in his car in Edinburgh Way, Pitsea on December 2, 2019.

On November 8 last year, the hunter group manning a decoy profile became incredibly concerned when Henry messaged the profile saying he would stab and rape the person caring for her.

The group arranged a sting and confronted Henry outside his home.

During the confrontation, streamed live on social media, Henry collapsed on the floor and appeared shaken by his actions.

At Basildon Crown Court yesterday Henry had his head bowed and wiped away tears after admitting breaching his order, attempting to get a child to look at sexual activity and arranging a child sex offence.

Mitigation said he desperately wanted rehabilitation.

Judge Samantha Cohen jailed him, while slamming him for lying to her during his reviews.

Judge Cohen said: “The facts reveal you are a dangerous, predatory paedophile and you have a sexual obsession with school children aged between 11 and 12.

“You told me you were doing well, throughout that time you were committing these offences and lying to me.”

The judge branded Henry as “deceitful and compulsive”.