A FORMER town councillor was caught in an online sting by vigilante paedophile hunters, Cardiff Crown Court has heard.

Luke Van-de-Vyver, 49, of Baker Street, Abergavenny, was caught on video admitting to engaging in sexual communication with a girl aged under 13 and inciting her to engage in sexual activity.

The former Conservative Abergavenny town councillor was jailed for 33 months after pleading guilty to the charges.

Van-de-Vyver, a former market trader and caretaker at the town hall, was also placed on the sex offenders register.

The court was told that vigilantes had set up a fake profile of a young girl on social media, which Van-de-Vyver fell for, eventually arranging to meet the ‘girl’ in Abergavenny.

In May, 2022, the group of vigilantes took to Facebook Live to broadcast Van-de-Vyer’s activities as they surrounded him and called the police.

The shocking video showed the moment where Van-de-Vyer was confronted with evidence of his actions.

In the video, Van-de-Vyer admitted to adding the decoy 12-year-old on social media and exchanging sexually explicit messages.

Van-de-Vyer argued that he “never believed” her age – despite the decoy stating that she was 12-years-old early in the conversation.

Van-de-Vyer was arrested and charged with an adult attempt to engage in sexual communication with a child, and an attempt to incite a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity.

According to the vigilante group, this came after Van-de-Vyer claimed that “no further action” would be taken on the matter.

Abergavenny Town Council and Van-der-Vyver’s former employers, Monmouthshire County Council declined to comment on the sentence.