Paedophile who lured girl, 13, on internet is jailed

A paedophile who used the internet to entice a 13-year-old girl to his home for sex was yesterday jailed for five years.

A paedophile who used the internet to entice a 13-year-old girl to his home for sex was yesterday jailed for five years.

Patrick Green, 33, from Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, spent several months logging on to the same chatroom before meeting and abusing the teenager.

Green, who pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to two counts of indecent assault, four counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor and one count of attempted unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, was branded a "predator" by Judge Christopher Tyrer at Aylesbury Crown Court.

He also admitted eight counts of possessing indecent photographs of children. Further counts of abduction were ordered to lie on file.

A spokesman for Thames Valley Police, who led the investigation, said after the hearing: "This is the first time that someone convicted of these offences has used the internet to meet his victims, and this sentence should send a strong message to other offenders."

The court heard that Green, who is divorced and worked for an export company in Slough, made contact with the girl last February in a chatroom aimed specifically at older men wishing to talk to younger women.

After they had exchanged a number of e-mails, he lured her to his house after picking her up from a nearby railway station. They continued to meet weekly for nearly a month before the girl told her mother.

Robert Bernard Spencer, prosecuting, said Green, who had no previous convictions, sent the girl lewd images of himself and messages to her saying: "I believe the way we feel about each other will mean we will always stay together. I am lucky to have you in my life."

He told the court that Green was "encouraging her to become a willing sexual partner".

Green was eventually arrested in Cumbria on his way to meet a 14-year-old girl he had also met on the internet and had arranged to spend the weekend with. He had masqueraded as a 15-year-old boy to arrange the meeting.

Passing sentence and ordering Green to remain on the sex offenders' register for the rest of his life, Judge Tyrer said: "[Your] victim... was a child. She was naive and vulnerable to predators like you.

"She was a virgin. She had no previous boyfriends... You wormed your way into her affection and confidence and then targeted her for your sexual gratification.

"Children are encouraged to use the internet for educational purposes. Their curiosity is bound to lead them to explore sites they should avoid. Those who exploit children the way you do should expect serious sentences."

After the hearing the girl's parents, who cannot be named to protect the anonymity of their daughter, said: "We believe the judge was right to give this man a longer than average sentence. As parents, no sentence seems long enough when this man took away from our daughter something that can never be given back."