Sutton pervert posed as a teenager while grooming girl for sex

Neville Poole was about to turn 40 when he met the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, but claimed to be 17, in December 2018.

Prosecutor Alan Murphy described how Poole sent explicit pictures of himself performing a sexual act before persuading her to do the same.

In April 2019, they met face-to-face for the first time when he visited her hometown. She was 15 and he told her he was 28.

They met for sex on two occasions before he sent her money to travel to Mansfield, and she visited and stayed at his home address in June and July.

Nottingham Crown Court heard how Poole gave her gifts including jewellery and Ann Summers underwear.

When he was arrested, police found pictures of her in a school-uniform on his phone and messages with lovehearts and kisses.

In a statement, the girl said she had suffered mental health problems at the time.

When Poole was arrested, she began self-harming and said she was ashamed and felt her mum didn't trust her.

Gregor Purcell, mitigating, said Poole made full admissions in his third police interview and the girl was not initially prepared to support the prosecution.

He said Purcell was of previous good character and had suffered from depression and anxiety for 13 years.

"He feels suicidal about what he has done," Mr Purcell added.

Poole, 42, of Twitchell View, Sutton, pleaded guilty to ten offences, when he appeared before Judge Timothy Spencer QC, on Friday.

The judge told him: "Some sort of badness overtook you in your late thirties.You knew from the start that what you were doing was wrong.

"The fact that you took 25 years off your age was a clear warning that what you were embarking upon was seriously criminal.

"At 42 you have lost your good character in a spectacular way. You will carry the stigma of a sex offender for the rest of your life."

He sentenced Poole to five years in prison and imposed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.