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He had tried to fool jurors, claiming he was engaging in a cat-and-mouse scheme to expose online “scammers”.
But Judge Sarah Campbell, sentencing Bremner at Reading Crown Court on Friday, March 27: “The jury roundly rejected that – and so do I.
“You do have a sexual interest in children.”
The court was told how Bremner had contacted ‘Otis’ on a social media platform and, despite knowing the supposed child’s age, began asking him about his sexual experience.
He asked for photographs and persuaded ‘Otis’ to move to another online platform where he believed the conversations would leave no trace.
Meanwhile, the court heard, Bremner sent ‘Otis’ pictures of his penis and a video of him masturbating.
Bremner denied two counts of trying engage a child in sexual communication.
He further denied trying, for his own sexual gratification, to cause a child to cause a child to look at an image of a person engaging in a sexual activity.
Both offences were committed in Newbury between August 25 and October 11, 2022.
But jurors convicted him on all counts.
Anne-Marie Critchley, for Bremner, said her client had reached his 70s with no prior convictions.
She described him as a “beloved father and grandfather” whose family stood by him and pointed out that the case had been hanging over him, through no fault of his own, for years.
She said probation officers considered he could be rehabilitated in the community and that a relatively short prison sentence, which he would serve alongside fellow child sex offenders, would do little to protect the public.
Judge Campbell queried how effective any rehabilitation programme would be, given Bremner’s continued insistence that he was innocent.
Ms Critchley replied: “An element of denial is quite common in my experience in these types of cases.
“The [sex offenders] programme is designed to enable him to confront the reality of the situation.”
Judge Campbell acknowledged that, in this case, no actual child had been exposed to risk or sexual material.
She said sentencing guidelines recommended this should be taken into account and a reduction in the ultimate sentence passed to reflect that fact.
Ms Campbell added: “The probation service consider your risk is manageable in the community.
“Ultimately I’m just persuaded to suspend the sentence, despite there having been a trial in this case.”
She sentenced Bremner to 20 months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months.
In addition, he will be required to complete a sex offenders programme and to complete 150 hours of unpaid community work.
Next, Bremner was ordered to pay £2,000 costs, plus a statutory victim services surcharge.
Finally, he was required to sign the Sex Offenders Register and made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) for 10 years.
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