A child sex offender held his head in his hands and cried “my life is over” as he was exposed by paedophile ‘hunters’ in a video live-streamed to thousands online.

Footage of the ‘sting’ was broadcast on Facebook after Kane Renton was caught engaging in sexually explicit chats with someone he believed to be a nine-year-old girl.

But the 35-year-old from Ramsgate was in fact messaging a decoy profile set up by members of the Broken Dreams group, who challenged him about his depraved actions and filmed the confrontation for their 75,000 followers.

In the 100-minute clip, Renton admitted messaging the ‘youngster’, telling the amateur detectives he was “disgusted” with himself and “knew it was wrong”.

The video formed part of the evidence passed to police, who arrested Renton the same day and later charged him with a series of sex offences.

Maidstone Crown Court was told on Thursday how Renton had indulged in his warped behaviour with the 'youngster' over four days in October 2022.

Within seconds of having initiated contact through an online chat room, with which he had an account with the username ‘B1gdikukk’, he had told the ‘child’ he was "horny" and asked if she wanted to be "naughty" and take her clothes off.

Although he had been told from the outset that she was nine years old, the paedophile was undeterred.

Using a false name of 'Rob', he invited her to continue talking with him on WhatsApp. He even told her he feared “getting into trouble" because she was "so young" and at one stage raised concerns about the police finding out.

Renton also requested topless photos, saying “Don’t tell anyone Ok?...Cos it’s wrong”, sent images of his genitals, and instructed her on how to perform sex acts on herself.

But his worries about being caught came to fruition when members of the Broken Dreams team knocked on his door on November 7, 2022.

Now, more than two years on, Renton has found himself behind bars having been jailed on Thursday.

He admitted two offences of attempting to cause a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity and one of attempted sexual communication with a child between October 18 and 27, 2022.

At the sentencing hearing, prosecutor James Harrison detailed how Renton's chats were littered with sexual references, spelling the word 'naughty' as 'norty'.

In the first chat, he asked what the girl was wearing, requested she removed her top and told her to "talk dirty" before sending a photograph of his penis.

When they spoke two days later again on the online chat room, Renton revealed he had "got worried someone told police" and asked whether she had told anyone about their previous chats or if someone had checked her phone.

He then told her to “make sure no one sees ur phone” before adding “I’m worried cos ur so young about police tbh” and revealing he had deleted her messages.

The conversation switched to WhatsApp and, having suggested she go upstairs, told her she "could be norty" and take her clothes on.

Because she told him she was watching a film, he then sent a series of messages littered with kisses but "hassling" her to hurry up and to text him.

He also repeatedly asked for sexual photos despite her protests and ordered her to remove her underwear and perform a sex act on herself.

Similar conversations occurred between the pair on two consecutive days, starting on an online app and then switching to WhatsApp.

Still calling himself 'Rob', Renton repeatedly told the girl to take off her knickers and asked for photos of her legs, telling her she had to do what he wanted.

He also repeated his worries about her age and, 11 days after their final chat, members of Broken Dreams were on his doorstep.

Renton, now of High Street, owned up to his deviant behaviour during the live-stream, which resulted in members of the public turning up at his address and threatening violence.

Following his arrest, police found the messages on the sex offender's phone.

He initially answered "no comment" when interviewed before accepting he had had the conversations but could not recall them clearly as he was high and drunk at the time.

Renton also told police he did not know why he had sent an image of his penis, and that he was "disgusted" by what he had said.

He was jailed for 32 months and, on release, will be subject to a sexual harm prevention order and sex offender notification requirements.

‘Taking risks they don’t understand’

While Renton was convicted on the strength of the evidence gathered by members of Broken Dreams, Kent Police continues to raise concerns about the work of so-called paedophile hunters.

DCI Sarah Stevenson says there is no need for such groups to carry out ‘stings’ on suspects, saying they can have “unintended” consequences and put successful convictions at risk.

“Among the significant resources committed to tackling sexual abuse of children are dedicated detectives working in the Paedophile Online Investigation Team who have the skills and training to carry out safe and secure investigations in the most appropriate way,” she said.

“Crimes where children are involved can understandably cause distress, but some individuals associated with online child activist groups are taking risks they often do not understand.

“For example, live-streaming their activity can have unintended and traumatic consequences on other innocent people who may be affected, including family members.

“It can also result in specialist police resources being diverted away from carefully planned operations where children may be at risk, in order to immediately respond to situations created by online activists.

“Kent Police has established reporting processes to report crimes, meaning there is no requirement to carry out a ‘sting’ and I would urge everyone to follow these processes to help us protect vulnerable people.

“This also enables properly planned police deployments to take place to avoid consequences such as loss of evidence.”

A spokesperson for Broken Dreams said: “We do this for the safety of children and to raise awareness to stop paedophiles from getting close to other families with children that are unaware of these offences. Awareness is key.”