February 2016

Re-offending pervert groomed two 13-year-old girls after befriending them on Facebook

A REPEAT sex offender who befriended two 13-year-old girls on social media before convincing them to meet up with him in Newquay has been jailed.

Jason Tilley, 29, targeted the teenagers, who can not be named for legal reasons, and started sending them sexually explicit messages, Truro Crown Court heard on Tuesday.

Jason Beal, for the Crown Prosecution Service, said the offences came to light after one of the girls told a member of her family that she had been in contact with a 28-year-old and that he had sent her sexual messages.

The matter was reported to police and Tilley, of Hope Terrace, Newquay, was arrested.

Tilley admitted two counts of breaching a sexual offences prevention order (SOPO), two of meeting a child following sexual grooming and one count of sexual assault.

The SOPO was imposed on him after he admitted sexual activity with an underage girl at Chichester Crown Court in 2010.

The court heard he was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment for that offence but that more recently he had been given a suspended sentence order for sending an obscene or offensive message to a girl who had learning disabilities.

Mr Beal said the current offence put him in breach of that order.

Chris Andrews, defending, said his client had recognised for the first time that he had a problem and had said he felt bad for everything he had done.

Mr Andrews said Tilley was working in prison to make sure he was a better person when he left.

Sentencing, Judge Simon Carr said Tilley had deliberately targeted the two girls on social media as he had deliberately targeted a girl with learning difficulties previously.

Tilley was jailed for three years and made the subject of a new sexual offences prevention order.

He also had an extra 12 weeks added on to his sentence for breaching the suspended sentence.