JAILED: Security guard paid girl, 13, for sex at shopping centre where he worked
A security guard who paid a 13-year-old girl for sex has been locked up for four years.
Married father Daniel Ilea, aged 40, befriended the vulnerable girl in January after she ran away from home.
He paid her £50 and had sex with her at the Touchwood shopping centre in Solihull where he worked.
Police only became aware that the crime had happened when the girl's mum read about it in her daughter's diary and raised the alarm.
Ilea became aware of the investigation and tried to flee the country with his wife and child but was arrested at the Port of Dover.
Ilea, of Darlaston Court, in Meriden, Coventry, pleaded guilty to paying for the sexual services of a child at a pre-trial hearing at Birmingham Crown Court on February 28.
He also pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing an offensive weapon in a public place, as he had a baton and knuckleduster in his car when he was arrested.
He was sentenced at the same court yesterday where he was ordered to sign the sex offenders register indefinitely.
Virinder Bains, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: "Daniel Ilea, as a security guard, should have been safeguarding the vulnerable victim but instead he exploited her for his own selfish gain.
"He is now serving a prison sentence and will be registered as a sex offender for life with an indefinite sexual harm prevention order."
