July 2010

Pervert groomed 13-year-old girl on internet chat room and met for sex

A paedophile who trawled internet chat sites was able to groom a 13-year-old girl so well that she arranged to meet him for sex, a court heard.

David Hall, aged 56, was one of a pair of perverts who was grooming the teenager from Northamptonshire at the same time.

But he was able to persuade her to meet him and after parking his lorry near her home, he sexually abused her.

At the same time, he was also contacting two Metropolitan Police officers who were posing as 14-year-old girls, sending them sexually suggestive messages.

Northampton Crown Court heard how the girl’s mother became concerned at her internet use and a change in her behaviour.

Timothy Brown, prosecuting, said: “In December 2008, the mother became concerned about her use of the family computer late at night to access messaging sites and there was something about the intensity and privacy of it that had cast her adrift.

“The mother logged on and found evidence of chat which included significant sexually suggestive contact.

“She tried talking to her about this and made no particular response to her about it. She closed down the account only to find she had opened up another one.”

Mr Brown read out some of the explicit messages Hall had sent, knowing he was in contact with an under-age schoolgirl.

Hall, of Greenwich Avenue, in Spalding, Lincs, pleaded guilty to inciting a child into sexual activity, meeting her following grooming and attempting to arrange a child sex offence and was jailed for 32 months, banned from ever working with children and put on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely.

Judge Charles Wide QC said: “There are features of extended grooming, actual meeting for sexual contact and then there are the two people you thought were children.

“The messages you sent were of a sexual content and it is apparent from them that you met this girl on at least two occasions.”

Married father-of-two, Timothy Fullard, from Wrexham, in North Wales, tried to groom the same girl after meeting her online.

Fullard, aged 37, repeatedly watched the teenager expose herself via a web cam and even suggested they secretly met.

He was jailed for two years in April after he admitted orchestrating late night sessions with the young girl after her parents had gone to bed.