By Annabal Bagdi,stokesentinel Administrator

Copyright birminghammail

A husband who told schoolgirls he was a porn star earning thousands every day while he battled fertility issues with his wife has walked free from court. Andrew Wall turned to online sex chats with adults who duped him into thinking they were children during the breakdown of his marriage. The 42-year-old thought he was talking to teenagers when he claimed he worked in the porn industry and sent them crude pictures of himself. But he was actually talking to so-called paedophile hunters who tipped off police and got him arrested. Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard how Wall communicated with four ‘adult volunteer decoys’ between October 7, 2023 and December 19, 2023. READ MORE: Dolly Parton’s sister tells fans ‘pray with me’ as singer battles health problems The adults had said they were as 13 or 14 in Facebook profiles, StokeonTrentLive reports. They alerted police they had been speaking with Wall, with officers arresting the sex offender at his home at 8pm on December 18, 2023. Prosecutor Tom Kenning said: “The police were made aware of his communication with a decoy aged 14 and one aged 13. “However, during the course of the investigation the police were contacted by other volunteer groups who confirmed that the defendant had also been communicating with two other online profiles. Both were aged 14. “A similar method was used by all the online groups. They left a dormant child profile on Facebook until someone sent a message online. “The profiles had a computer generated child on the page. The defendant messaged them. Each decoy told the defendant their age. “The first told the defendant she was 14.” The court heard Wall sent photographs of his naked body to two profiles and asked one child ‘if she thought he looked sexy’. Wall again sent photos to the third profile, with. Mr Kenning adding: “He told her he worked in the porn industry, sex was his job and he got paid to please girls.” The fourth profile told Wall she was 13, with the prosecutor telling the court: “The defendant sent her photos of his naked body. “He said he was aged 19 and from London. He told her he worked in the porn industry as a performer.” Wall also asked the girl to ‘send him a sexy little photo of herself and a selfie of her sexy bum’. The convict asked the profile not to tell her parents and sent explicit videos taken from the internet, the court heard. Mr Kenning added: “He said he was paid £6,500 a day in the porn industry.” In his interview with police, Wall confessed to the sexual communication. He said it happened in the context of his marital and fertility issues, the court was told. Wall claimed his wife was aware but she was arrested and released without charge. Catherine O’Reilly, defending, said Wall had been open and honest with police. Miss O’Reilly said: “There is no excuse for this type of behaviour. “A deterioration in his mental health and circumstances created a perfect storm and made him act completely out of character. “He is thought highly of by family and friends. This type of offending behaviour has come as a shock to them. “He has gone through an extremely stressful time in respect of his marriage. “The breakdown of that marriage and the experiences that they endured towards the end of the marriage led to feelings of isolation, depression and anxiety. “He has had significant difficulties from an early age. “He does not seem to evaluate information the way we would expect most adults to evaluate information.” The court heard Wall is ‘desperately sorry’ and ‘ashamed’. Miss O’Reilly said the defendant lost his job of 21 years as a result of his crimes. He has since reached out to the Lucy Faithfull Foundation to address his behaviour. Miss O’Reilly added: “He is eager to rehabilitate. I do ask you to give him a chance.” Sentencing, Judge Graeme Smith said: “I am sentencing you for what was in reality a complete fantasy, an exchange between yourself portraying yourself as some form of porn star and people portraying themselves as 13 and 14-year-old girls when they were in fact adults. “However, you had no reason to know or believe that they were anything other than what they purported to be. “You were engaging in highly sexualised conversation and the sending of sexualised photos and videos to people who were apparently children. “That is why these matters are so serious.” Communication with one of the decoys was ‘utterly distasteful’, the judge said. But he said there was significant mitigation including Wall’s lack of previous convictions, his mental health issues, his remorse and significant steps taken to address his issues. Judge Smith added: “These offences are very serious, although no actual harm was suffered by any child. “You have not offended in nearly two years since this happened and you are actively taking steps to rehabilitate yourself and probation believe they can work with you to complete that. “I am satisfied that this is a sentence I can suspend.” Wall, of Hartwell Lane, Rough Close, Stoke-on-Trent, admitted four counts of attempted sexual communication with a child and attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act. He was handed a 22-month sentenced, suspended for two years. The defendant – who had no previous convictions – was made subject of a 10-year sexual harm prevention order and will remain on the sex offenders register for 10 years. He was also told to complete a 30-day rehabilitation activity requirement and 200 hours unpaid work. Don’t miss the biggest and breaking stories by signing up to the BirminghamLive newsletter here .