He told the decoy girl he wanted to kiss ‘every inch of her’
Michael Hollingsworth(Image: Hull Live)
A convicted sex offender exchanged highly sexualised messages with a “lovely” 13-year-old girl while using the internet name “oldfart” during their flirty conversations. Michael Hollingsworth told the decoy girl that she would “look dead sexy in a short skirt and belly top” and that he wanted to kiss her “all over every inch of her”, Hull Crown Court heard.
Hollingsworth, 66, of Lascelles Avenue, Withernsea, admitted attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child on May 21, 2023. He also admitted a similar offence between September 16 and 24, 2024.
Oliver Shipley, prosecuting, said that police arrested Hollingsworth on October 31, 2023. His devices were examined in April and August 2024. His internet searches included “pre-teen” and “13 year old girl images”.
A conversation on Snapchat was found on his device from May 2023 and, in it, he spoke about buying a girl “see through panties” and asked her about her body. He asked to see her chest.
“The nature of the conversation was inherently sexual,” said Mr Shipley. Hollingsworth sent a series of text messages to the girl, who was a decoy.
The second offence came to light after an undercover police officer set up the profile of a 13-year-old girl on Snapchat. During September 2024, the decoy interacted with a user called “oldfart” who gave a telephone number on WhatsApp linked to the name “Mick” – later found to be Hollingsworth.
After a Snapchat friend request was accepted, Hollingsworth told the girl: “I just added you randomly.” She said that she was 13 and lived in Derbyshire.
“The defendant responded by asking whether his age was a problem for her,” said Mr Shipley. “She said: ‘No’. He later enquired whether she was at school.
“He said he worked on a boat and she asked if he was a pirate. He said ‘more like Popeye’ but that he doesn’t like spinach and did not have a girlfriend called Olive Oyl.”
Hollingsworth sent a picture of himself and asked what she looked like. She sent a photograph. “Of course, this was not a real photo,” said Mr Shipley.
“He commented that she looked lovely and had a great smile. He was surprised the boys were not lining up to date her.”
Hollingsworth sent unsolicited pictures of himself shirtless and she sent some of herself, which were not indecent. He said that he would happily teach her to swim and that he would “pay attention with his hand on her belly”.
He said that he had a “good sense of humour but a dirty mind” but he did not want to say anything sexy and for her to block him. “He said she would look dead sexy in a short skirt and belly top,” said Mr Shipley.
“He said he would find it very hard not to want to kiss her.” He wanted to kiss her chest and “all over every inch of her” as well. “He said he would love to see more photos of her,” said Mr Shipley.
“He continued to solicit images from her, asking her to send Snapchats of herself while at school, hoping to see her sexy legs in the picture. Their conversation moved to WhatsApp.
“He sent a photograph of himself in the shower, asking if she liked the picture.” He called the decoy girl and talked about going to sea and about sneaking her onboard where they would be naked in bed together.
Rachel Scott, mitigating, said that Hollingsworth was most recently convicted of sex offences in 2013. He had been put on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years before committing the latest offences in the weeks after he came off the register.
There had been a significant delay in bringing the matters to court. He was not charged until 21 months after his police interview.
Since then, Hollingsworth had settled down and was in a stable relationship and married. He felt shame and embarrassment at the offences.
He had been due to retire in December this year but had quit his job because of the court case. He had said that, if he were sent to prison, it was “thoroughly deserved” but he had never had the opportunity to do any rehabilitation work.
“That’s the best way to protect the public going forward,” said Miss Scott. Hollingsworth was given an 18-month sentence and 20 days’ rehabilitation. He was given a 10-year sexual harm prevention order and he will have to register as a sex offender for 10 years.
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