Grandad caught ordering child-like sex doll online

Keith Roddham, 71, ordered one of the dolls but when it was intercepted by customs before it got to him, he ordered another.

A grandad was caught trying to import a child-like sex doll he had ordered off the internet.

Former military man Keith Roddham ordered one of the dolls, but when it was intercepted by customs before it got to him, he ordered another.

Newcastle Crown Court heard the doll was the height of and ‘anatomically correct’ for a six-year-old girl, had a child-like face, but also had some adult-like features, such as large breasts.

Roddham, 71, of Blyth, who has no previous convictions and denies any sexual interest in children, was found to have searched online for ‘teen girls with small breasts’, but had not downloaded any illegal material.

He admitted importing an indecent or obscene article and has now been sentenced to a community order.

The court heard it was on December 28 2016, that customs officials at Stansted Airport intercepted a package on its way to Roddham’s home.

Nick Lane, prosecuting, said: ‘It was found to contain a child-like sex doll, which the officials deemed an indecent or obscene article.

‘Within the box there was what can only be described as an outfit for the doll, including a see through top and skirt and thong.’

After Northumbria Police were informed, Roddham was arrested at his home on January 16, 2017.

He admitted to ordering the item on the internet and said it had been described as a 100cm sex doll with breasts.

Mr Lane said the doll was sent to a consultant paediatrician for analysis.

‘She said in her opinion, in height, the doll was consistent with a child of about six years old, the face was child-like in appearance,’ the prosecutor said.

The court heard it was not the first time Roddham, of Dale Street, Cambois, Blyth, had tried to buy such an item.

In June 2016, customs officers seized another doll in almost identical circumstances.

Judge Stephen Earl sentenced Roddham, to a 12-month community order with unpaid work and £500 costs.

The judge said it was not clear he had an interest in young children.

Brian Hegarty, defending, said: ‘It’s fair to say there are other features of the doll which are much more adult-like.’

He added: ‘This was an inanimate object and there were no indecent images on the defendant’s computer.’