A MAN who groomed a schoolgirl for sexual encounters after they met via the internet was today jailed for two years and three months.
Nathan Morley’s victim first contacted him by e-mail after he put an advertisement in a newsagent’s window to find people to play on-line games.
Morley (32) was originally looking for people to take part in web-based pursuits such as dungeons and dragons, Leicester Crown Court heard.
But he started to groom the 14-year-old girl for sexual purposes after inviting her to watch a film with him.
David Herbert, prosecuting, said the girl was ‘mixed-up’, vulnerable and unhappy at home and welcomed Morley’s attention, eventually becoming fond of him.
He added: “They watched a film together, and as contact progressed he would hug her. Throughout he flattered her and sought to gain her trust.
“He began to view her sexually, and all that followed on his part was driven with the intention of grooming her for his own sexual purposes.”
A search of Morley’s computer showed the pair exchanged sexually explicit e-mails. He also sent her a chapter from a book describing full intercourse.
But the court heard that, although they indulged in sexual touching, Morley, formerly of Brook Crescent, Asfordby Valley, but now of Lammas Close, Braunston, never had full intercourse with the girl.
Morley pleaded guilty to meeting a child following sexual grooming and three charges of sexual activity with a child between June and October 2005.
Mr Justice Crane banned him from having any contact with his victim or communicating with anyone under 16 via the internet for the next five years.
He told him: “You accept the time came when you were meeting this girl for sexual purposes and committed sexual offences of a physical kind.
“She was vulnerable and became fond of you and dependent on you.”
Morley, who has no previous convictions, was also told to register as a sex offender for seven years and banned from ever working with children.
