November 2010

Man, 22, jailed for sex with 14-year-old in Cheltenham

A MAN who groomed a 14-year-old girl for sex on a social networking website has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.

Carl Smith, 22, was previously convicted of a sex assault against a girl of the same age, Gloucester Crown Court heard.

Smith, of Templefields, Andoversford, met the latest victim three times for sex in Cheltenham, the court heard.

Judge William Hart said: “You met this girl over a social networking site. You groomed her to the extent that she agreed to have sex with you.

“In my judgment you are unwilling to acknowledge you have a specific sexual interest in underage girls.”

The court heard Smith began the sexual activity within a few months of the completion of a community order imposed for the previous offence. He met the girl on the internet and arranged to meet her, prosecutor Kannan Siva said.

He told the court Smith had not been charged with any offence arising from the first sexual incident because he claimed he thought she was 16.

However, he admitted that on two subsequent occasions when he met and had sex with the girl he knew her true age, Mr Siva said. Smith pleaded guilty to two charges of sexual activity with a child under 16 in February this year.

Smith had told police: “I knew she was 14, but she wanted to have sex.”

He showed police texts from the girl, which confirmed she wanted sex, Mr Siva said.

“He also said he knew what he had done was wrong,” he said. “A complaint was made to the police in June of this year. He was arrested on July 1 and his admissions were prompt.”

Carole Knotts, defending, asked the court to pass a new community order with requirements.

She said: “He is a young man with a number of problems including his mental stability,” she said. “He has tried to take his own life.

“He is a young man who would clearly find custody very, very difficult.”