'Predator' who groomed girl aged 11 (From Daily Echo)

'Predator' who groomed girl aged 11

7:25am Thursday 3rd January 2013 in News

A SOUTHAMPTON man planned to take an 11-yearold girl to a hotel for sex after grooming her over the Internet, a court heard.

Andrew Peter Adey is behind bars after he admitted grooming the schoolgirl online and attempting to get her to perform sexual acts for him.

The 41-year-old had contacted the girl via social networking site BearShare. He pretended to be 21 years old and sent her videos last month from his home in Maybush.

“When she told him she was 11 years old he replied, ‘that would make it all the better’,” said prosecutor Adam Feest.

Winchester Crown Court heard how Adey then booked a room at a hotel near to where the girl lived in North Wales.

He then sent her sexually explicit pictures and he searched for the girl’s school online.

“The defendant has quite deliberately taken advantage of a young child with the intention of travelling from the south of the county to North Wales to meet her and have sexual intercourse with her,” added Mr Feest.

Adey was arrested before he could travel to the hotel after the girl spoke to a teacher at the school one day before he was due to meet her.

Pornography Adey had also contacted other underage girls before he was arrested.

Pornographic moving images of children as young as seven were also found on Adey’s computer when police raided his Thirlmere Road home, along with a small amount of cannabis.

Due to the speed of which the court hearing took place a full analysis of his computer had not taken place, but all images were in categories three to five – the most extreme.

Defending barrister Susan Ridge said her client accepted that he has a “sexual interest in female children”.

Passing sentence, Judge Keith Cutler described Adey as “predatory and manipulative”.

“It’s very fortunate that [this meeting] never went ahead. I’m sure that looking back on it, that girl, her mother, and the school are very shocked that she got very close to meeting you in those circumstances.”

Adey was sentenced to three years in prison for grooming, plus four months for the possession of indecent images, which will run consecutively.

He was given another month for the possession of cannabis, which will run concurrently – a total of 40 months.

He will also be placed on the sexual offences register indefinitely and on a sex offenders prevention order for ten years.