A "remorseless" paedophile was released by police twice only to strike again.

Paedophile hunters twice caught Barry Watling, of Romney Marsh, sending horrific messages and trying to meet underage girls in 2017 and 2019.

But police released the 33-year-old under investigation on both occasions, despite sickening pictures of child torture being found on his phone.

Now, the predator has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years custody at Canterbury Crown Court.

Hunting for illegal material, Watling pestered abuse activist Louise Walton’s profile in 2017, where she stated repeatedly she was 13.

The abuser sent images of himself, asked for some in return, then tried convincing the decoy they were in a relationship, prosecutors explained.

“He turned the conversation sexual.

“He said they should become boyfriend and girlfriend and she must keep it secret from her mother,” Jenny Burgess said.

Ms Walton handed Watling’s illicit recordings and pictures to police who carried out an arrest in September the same year.

But he was released under investigation despite indecent images of children being discovered on his phone - some involved torture.

After walking free Watling's attention turned to Michelle Burns in 2019, another child abuse activist posing as a girl, aged 13.

Watling sent her texts and phoned her, then attempted to meet the ‘child’ in Herne Bay for sex. But when Ms Burns turned in her evidence police again arrested Watling only to release him under investigation.

Watling would not face a judge until 2021 thanks to the brave detective work of a woman posing as a teenager.

When Watling contacted her she said she was 13 to put him off but he persisted and she kept him engaged for long enough to garner enough information to lead to his final arrest.

“It was a disturbing experience to communicate with the defendant, she felt very uncomfortable but she wanted to find out more about what was going on before reporting him to the police,” Ms Burgess said.

Sentencing Watling, Judge Simon James said: “The concern the court has is certainly back in 2017 the man had been identified in highly sexualised conversations with a child, and found with images depicting the sexual abuse of children.

“Yet there was no formal charge, allowing him to engage in similar ways on the internet.

“The concern everyone must have is he was dealing with adults fortunately, but it placed children at risk.”

Following a psychiatric report doctor Robert Lambert-Simpson “expressed some concerns over the degree of insight and remorse as well as his presentation,” the court heard.

James Burke, mitigating, said Watling is willing to work with relevant authorities in the future and he suffers mental health complications following a previous trauma.

'The concern the court has is certainly back in 2017 the man had been identified in highly sexualised conversations with a child...'

Watling, of Coast Drive, Lydd-on-Sea, pleaded guilty to six non-contact sexual offences at an early opportunity.

Detective Chief Superintendent Emma Banks of Kent Police said: "As a force that places victims at the heart of everything we do, we are very mindful of the need to carry out investigations promptly and to the highest possible standard

"On this occasion we failed to meet those high standards and we have undertaken a full review and have introduced new measures to ensure such instances are avoided, including an increased level of oversight by line managers and senior officers, and the sharing of best practice to ensure the strongest possible casefiles are submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service at the first attempt.

"In this particular case, sexual offences involving the offender were first reported to Kent Police on August 3, 2017. An investigation led to a search warrant being executed at the defendant's home address on September 4 and he was arrested. The suspect was arrested again on June 13 2019 for further sexual offences. Digital devices were seized during both arrests, which were then subject to examination.

"Some delays were identified as being a result of the need for the investigation to be re-allocated to a different officer on two separate occasions and we accept that the case took longer than anticipated to reach court."

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