A care home worker told someone he believed to be a 14-year-old girl: “I would love to hold your sexy body.”
Lee Teasdale told the people he thought were children to keep their conversations secret and asked for pictures of them in their underwear.
Cardiff Crown Court heard he sent a message saying: “Naughty is good.”
Andrew Davies, prosecuting, said a man from paedophile hunting group Predator Closure set up a profile online as a teenage girl.
The defendant, with the username Lee83, sent “her” a message on April 11 last year asking: “What are you up to?”
Prosecutors said he sent an image of his penis and the decoy replied: “OMG, I’m only 14.”
Mr Davies told the court: “He repeatedly asked for indecent photographs, despite being told she was only 14.
“He asked for images of her in underwear and offered her money, up to £100, to do so. He said it would be a secret between them.”
The court heard Teasdale sent messages saying: “Show me your tits. I want to see your body. I would love to hold your sexy body.”
Prosecutors said the paedophile hunter found out the defendant’s address and passed the messages on to a local group who confronted him on April 16, 2019.
Police arrived and arrested Teasdale. Another hunter, from Angels of Innocence, came forward.
The court heard she was running a decoy profile as a girl and she had received messages from the defendant too.
Mr Davies said Teasdale had asked for pictures of her in her underwear saying he wanted to see her “sexy body”. He sent a message saying: “Babe, one pic and I’ll stop asking.”
Teasdale, who did not have any previous convictions, answered “no comment” to all the questions put to him in interview.
The 36-year-old, from Penybont Road in Pencoed , admitted attempting to cause a girl to engage in sexual activity and two counts of engaging in sexual communication with a child.
Tim Petrides, defending, said his client was under pressure at work and he and his partner were working opposite shifts.
He said Teasdale started drinking in the evenings and using chatroom sites, adding: “His coping mechanisms were completely inappropriate.”
Mr Petrides accepted the behaviour was “appalling and disgraceful”. The court heard the defendant is a father and his family are supporting him moving forward.
Judge Richard Twomlow gave him an eight-month jail term, suspended for 18 months, and ordered him to complete 200 hours of unpaid work and 30 days of rehabilitation activity.
He imposed a 10-year sexual harm prevention order and Teasdale must register as a sex offender for 10 years.
