A PAEDOPHILE who used the internet to groom a teenage girl for sex and exchange explicit photos has been jailed for six years.

Justin Davies, 39, of Gorham Drive, St Albans, met the 14-year-old girl on at least three occasions after targeting chatrooms used by teenagers and in June of last year he took her to a park along the south coast where she performed a sex act on him.

When police raided the home which unemployed Davies shared with his parents they found pictures of other girls who had displayed their breasts to him via web cam and revealing sexual photos that he had sent himself.

Police also found on his computer a number of pornographic videos of children, some of level five, depicting the most serious sexual offences.

Davies pleaded guilty to a total of 16 counts of meeting a child following sexual grooming, sexual activity with a child, cause or incite sexual activity with a child, possession of indecent images of a child and cause or incite a child to engage in pornography.

David Chrimes, prosecuting at St Albans Crown Court last Thursday, said “matters came to light” on September 29 when Davies’ home address was searched and various items were taken including a laptop and other electronic equipment, which revealed the pornographic pictures of children.

Davies was “candid” in interview, saying he used a site called netlog to chat to females aged between 13 to their late 40s and he admitted that the ‘chats’ progressed on to a sexual nature, with the exchange of indecent images.

In defence, Julia Flanagan said Davies told police that getting girls to expose themselves over the internet was “faceless fun” but that he now recognised the seriousness of the offences.

She continued: “He is horrified by his behaviour.

“He has always lived with his parents and is quite a sad and lonely character and is certainly someone willing to address the cause of the offences.”

Passing sentence, Judge Martin Griffith said: “Over quite a large number of months you groomed these girls over the internet.

“The lowest element was getting them to expose various parts of their body to you over the internet.

“That is bad enough, but with the 14-year-old girl you took matters much further.

“That to my mind is the most serious of the matters. Clearly the totality of the offences cross the custody threshold and I am afraid I am going to have to send you to prison for six years.”

Davies was also banned from working with children and will sign the sex offenders’ register indefinitely.