A 67-year-old man who sent sexual messages to accounts claiming to be young girls claims he knew they were run by paedophile hunters all along.

Keith Asbury, of Dairsie Road in Eltham, is on trial at Woolwich Crown Court after conversations he had online with two ‘decoy accounts’ claiming to be 13 and 14-years-old. 

Asbury, whose Facebook profile picture was a penis, sent messages to each account including asking them to commit sexual acts on themselves and saying “do not tell your mum”. 

These accounts were run by a voluntary group called Child Online Safety Team (COST). The photos used on the profiles are of children under 16 which are donated by people who are now over 18. 

The COST team made police aware of the messages on January 4 and Asbury’s home was raided by police at around 6am on January 6. 

Three phones were found during the search, including one which had been used to message the COST decoy accounts on WhatsApp. 

Asbury claims he knew that the accounts were run by paedophile hunters and knew he wasn’t talking to real children. 

The trial continues.