JAILED: Staffordshire man locked up for grooming girl, 14
A Staffordshire man who groomed a 14-year-old girl, asking her for naked images before having sex with her in his car, has been locked up for 20 months.
Apprentice Ricky Parton initially befriended the girl and kept in contact through text messages, Stafford Crown Court heard.
But the messages gradually became sexual until Parton asked the girl to send him pictures of herself naked, said Miss Michelle Heeley, prosecuting.
The girl did send him two pictures, but they were not of herself.
In July last year, however, Parton arranged to meet the girl and picked her up in a car.
He took her to a secluded spot near the Cannock Chase visitor centre in Marquis Drive and they began kissing.
He went on to suggest intercourse and had sex with the girl.
When she returned home, the girl's father became aware of what had happened and was so concerned she was taken to hospital.
Miss Heeley said Parton had been well aware of the girl's age, but decided to breach the law anyway.
Parton, aged 20, of Pye Green Road, Cannock, admitted sexual activity with a child and two offences of making indecent photographs of a child.
Mr Paul Lamb, mitigating, said: "As soon as the incident had taken place and he was contacted by the complainant's father, he immediately regretted his actions and he has had a significant period of time to reflect on that. At the time he was only 19-years-old and somewhat immature."
Along with the sentence of young offender custody, Parton was also ordered to register as a sex offender for the next 10 years.
Judge Michael Chambers QC told Parton: "She was a vulnerable 14 year old. There has been an element of grooming and planning. You intended it to be a sexual relationship and that is the seriousness of the matter."
