A former pub manager has admitted sending sexually explicit messages to someone he thought was an underage boy.
Philip Cornock, of Denzil Avenue, Southampton pleaded guilty on the first day of his trial at Southampton Crown Court.
The 33-year-old admitted attempting to communicate with a person under 16 for sexual gratification.
It came after he was caught in a sting by vigilante paedophile group Confronted and Caught.
The organisation filmed a confrontation with him at home.
Speaking in court today, prosecutor Keeley Harvey said the group had found his address on PayPal.
READ MORE: Former Southampton pub manager Phillip Cornock charged with child sex offences
Cornock had been trying to speak with someone posing as a child called Josh, the court herd.
Ms Harvey said there had been a "suggestion by the fictional Josh that he was in Southampton and could meet at JD Sport".
She said however that the group had "got ahead of themselves and met him at his address" rather than store.
Cornock had also sent and requested explicit photos and messages, the court heard, including Cornock sending pornographic links.
The court was also told that photographs had been requested during the conversation with the "boy" with links sent to a pornographic website.
Cornock denied attempting to engage a person 16 or under in sexual activity and this plea was accepted by the CPS.
READ MORE: Southampton pub 'advised to change its name' after paedophile sting
In a video published by the vigilante group, Cornock denied he was going to meet the person. He said: "I wasn't going to meet anyone apart from my dad."
The footage, posted on October 9, 2022 is more than three hours long and shows the group of people confronting him at his home.
The conversation then moves outside where he is questioned by police who arrived and then arrest him.
In court, Judge Nicholas Rowland ordered a pre-sentence report to be produced in his case and put an interim sexual harm prevention order in place.
Cornock, who used to work at Griffin Bar and Grill in Shirley, was granted conditional bail with a tagged curfew and must now register as a sex offender.
Sentencing was adjourned to August 31 at the same court.
Cornock no longer has any link to the pub.
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