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Internet pervert groomed girl, 13
A man who posed as a 17-year-boy groomed a 13-year-old girl over the internet, met up with her and had sex with her has been jailed.
Carl O’Reilly, 22, became friends with the girl from Irchester in an internet chat room for teenagers.
The room was intended to be a place for people over the age of 16 but the girl made clear on her tag line next to her name that she was just 13.
Soon after the pair began chatting, O’Reilly, of Long Mellows Rise, Northampton, asked the girl to send him photographs of herself.
Prosecuting O’Reilly at Northampton Sam Mainds said: “He asked her to send him a picture in her bra, which she did.
“He sent her a picture of himself in the bath – his bottom half wasn’t on show.
“They continued to have conversations over the internet. Then he asked if she wanted to meet.
“On April 3 when she had turned 14 he travelled by bus to Irchester where he met her and two friends. On meeting him the girl reminded him of her age.”
Later, the girl’s mother became suspicious and after examining her daughter’s phone found the picture of O’Reilly in the bath.
She told the girl’s father who phoned the defendant and demanded to know what was going on.
The defendant told the man that he hadn’t met the girl and that he had a fiance, but the girl’s father reported him to the police.
When he was arrested he initially said that he thought the girl was 18 years old, but eventually pleaded guilty to charges of meeting a child following sexual grooming and the sexual assault of a child.
The girl told police that she got carried away.
Speaking to the court Judge Christopher Wide QC said: “One of the points of this is to protect silly girls from their own bad judgement.”
Sentencing him to 14 months imprisonment Judge Wide added: “I accept that she was with friends at the time but nonetheless you did engage in some sexual activity with her. It’s not the most serious case of its kind but she was still only 14.
“There’s no suggestion that the girl in this case was not a willing participant but one of the primary purposes of this legislation is to protect young girls from their own lack of judgement.”
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Sunday 27 May 2012
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