Jail for man who 'groomed' girl (12) over Internet
A 23-year-old Nelson man has been jailed for 3½ years after he groomed a 12-year-old girl on the Internet and travelled across the country for love trysts with her in hotel rooms.
Michael Lockwood swopped sex stories in chat rooms and text-messages with the under-age girl before booking hotels in Banbury, Oxfordshire, and Guildford, Surrey, where they met.
Judge Michael Addison, sentencing at Guildford Crown Court, reminded Lockwood how he had met the 12-year-old girl on the Internet and steered conversations to a sexual agenda: "You asked her for naked pictures and she sent them to you. She said she was in love with you and you said you loved her. By this time you knew she was just 12."
Noting the girl's active involvement in the relationship, he said: "Girls of this age must be protected from themselves."
This one is a wake up call for parents to watch what their kids do on the Internet.