Man groomed schoolgirl for sex

A man who sexually groomed a Telford schoolgirl he met through an internet chatroom then visited her at her home while her mother was out has been jailed for a total of two years.

Ian Stewart, 37, of Auckland Street, Salford, Manchester, admitted sexually grooming the girl, five counts of making indecent photographs of girls and possessing a total of 1,560 indecent images of girls.

He also admitted distributing indecent photos of girls and possessing indecent photographs of girls on his computer for show.

Mr Max Bennett, prosecuting, told Shrewsbury Crown Court today Stewart first made contact with the girl, who cannot be named, through a chatroom when she was 12 years old in 2005.

Some of their subsequent correspondence was of a sexual nature, the court heard.In August 2006, Stewart arranged to meet the girl, then 13, at her home, having asked her to make sure her mother was out. When he arrived only the girl and one of her friends were there.

During the visit Stewart kissed the girl and then left. There was no sexual contact, the court was told.

Stewart was later arrested in Manchester and his computer was seized. Hundreds of indecent images of girls were found on it and there was evidence he had distributed some via a file-sharing network.

Stewart, who was of previous good character, told police he knew the girl was only 13 and had told her he was in his early 30s. He also admitted he was aware of the pornographic images on his computer.

Mrs Joanne Griffiths, defending, said he had not coerced the girl into any sexual activity. There had been consensual kissing during his visit to her home. He had realised it was wrong during and decided to leave. The visit lasted a maximum of 15 minutes, she added.

Judge Robin Onions told Stewart said the visit was made with a sexual offence in mind. He jailed Stewart for two years, banned him from working with children or having unsupervised contact with girls under 18 for 10 years. He must also notify the police of his address for the next 10 years.