Worksop man groomed 13-year-old decoy girl with talk of sexual acts

Paul Clarkson sent the girl a Facebook friend request on January 23 last year and the sexual communication took place between March 15 and 19, said prosecutor Catherine Wilson.

In fact she was a decoy run by a volunteer from the Child Online Safety Team who waits for the first message before responding.

She reiterated she was only 13 but Clarkson, aged 49, said she was "gorgeous" and offered to give her a massage.

Amid "general chat" he talked about going on holiday together, gave her his mobile number and asked if he could call her his girlfriend.

He talked about pouring cream over her and discussed meeting up before talking about a sexual act, and asking, "Do I make you feel good?"

When he was questioned by police he said he would drink eight to 12 cans of Special Brew when not working and wouldn’t say things like that when sober.

The court heard he has six previous convictions for 12 offences - the most recent from 2006 – but nothing of a sexual nature.

Charnelle Turner, mitigating, said: “He offers no excuses. At the time he was a drunk. He spoke to an array of people on social media. He doesn’t have a clear memory of what he was doing. He was coming home from work and drinking himself to sleep.”

She said he experienced “a sense of absolute loneliness after losing a long-term relationship”.

“The only way he can look back on this is that it was the moment he realised he was struggling,” said Ms Turner. “He has sought help for alcohol use.

“He will never hurt a child. This was a reckless and awful series of days for him.”

Clarkson, now of Station Road, Walkeringham, Doncaster, admitted attempted sexual communication with a child, at Mansfield Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

He received a four-month prison term, suspended for 18 months, with 20 rehabilitation days and 80 hours of unpaid work.

A five-year sexual harm prevention order was imposed and he was ordered to sign the sex offenders register for seven years. He must pay a £154 surcharge and £85 court costs.