PATHETIC EXCUSE | 

Rail worker who sexted teens blames being ‘neglected’ by wife for sick crime

A judge revealed how David Simpson (52) did attribute some blame on his former wife

Today at 18:42

A former Translink inspector who claimed he engaged in graphic and highly sexualised chats with two teenage girls because his wife left him “lonely and neglected” has been handed a 16-month sentence.

Ordering ‘dirty’ David Simpson to serve eight months in jail and eight months under supervised licence conditions, Judge Alistair Devlin said the 52-year-old had tried his best to minimise his offending, including laying some of the blame at the door of his now estranged wife.

The Antrim Crown Court judge revealed how the 52-year-old “did attribute some blame on his former wife,” lamenting to a probation officer that “if he had not been left lonely and neglected by her this situation would not have happened”.

Speaking out after the court hearing on Friday, Simpson’s ex-wife labelled him a liar, a cheat and a menace to society. Now that she’s rid of him, she said: “I couldn’t be happier”.

“I want to commend the police and thank them for what they have done – rooting out someone like him who is a menace to society.

“I have two daughters and I know that if it had been real girls and not decoys, their lives would have been destroyed.

“Technology is so advanced but this has proved that people can’t hide their crimes behind a phone.

“We were married for 13 years and together for 15 years – I had absolutely no idea what he was up to. It was a terrible, terrible shock.

“I feel betrayed and, at first, I believed what he told me – that he had been tricked and set up.

“I don’t think sex offenders get long enough sentences. At least he is going to spend time in prison.

“Saying he was lonely and neglected is totally untrue, he was just trying to get the court’s sympathy. He shouldn’t have done what he did – as well as being unfaithful he is a liar. My life is 100 times better without him now – I couldn’t be happier.”

Simpson, originally from Coleraine but who is now living on the Ballyvannon Road in Ballinderry outside Lisburn, had earlier entered guilty pleas to three counts of attempting to communicate sexually with a child, three other charges of attempting to possess indecent photographs of children and one of attempting to engage in a sexual act in the presence of a child, all committed between August 15-25 last year.

Prosecuting counsel Suzanne Gallagher described how a police force in Wales alerted the PSNI last September that Simpson was suspected of engaging in sexual online chats with two undercover officers posing as 13 and 14-year-old girls.

Over the next few weeks, Simpson had several more explicit chats with ‘Olivia’ where he told her: “Your age turns me on.” He asked her to preform sex acts, and said he wanted to see her body and have sex with her.

He sent her an indecent, explicit image of his genitals and advised her to “go on the pill”.

On August 25 last year, Simpson started chatting with ‘Ava’ and despite being told she is 14 years old, he told her that her age “turns him on” and asked her if she wanted to have sex.

Swooped

Officers swooped on Coleraine train station and arrested Simpson on September 13 last year and during subsequent police interviews, he denied having any sexual attraction to children and “reluctantly admitted that the conversations shared was of a sexual nature”.

Cops who searched Simpson’s home seized his mobile phone and when it was examined, officers found a single category A indecent image of a child in addition to the chat log with ‘Ava’.

Defence counsel Neil Moore said since Simpson’s arrest “there’s been a complete breakdown to the relationship with his wife”, he has left the marital home, is living in rented accommodation with people he does not know and “now lives a very isolated lifestyle”.

“He has no one to blame but himself,” the barrister conceded.

Judge Devlin said it was clear that Simpson had used “highly explicit and graphic terms” during the chats where he would have been fully aware he was speaking to young teenage girls.

In addition to the prison sentence, Judge Devlin also imposed a six-year Sexual Offences Prevention Order and told Simpson he would have to sign the police sex offenders register for the next 10 years.