A 15-YEAR-OLD Cornish girl was groomed over the internet by a father-of-two who travelled from London to have sex with her.
Jahangir Karim, 39, was today jailed for five years at Truro Crown Court for six charges including grooming the teenager from a village near Helston using social networking websites and engaging in sexual activity with her in three different ways. She cannot be named for legal reasons.
He had also pleaded guilty at a previous hearing to attempting to incite children under 16 and under 13 to sexual activity.
The court heard he had claimed he was 18 on the websites and chatted with up to 23 children as young as seven on the internet, although his defence solicitor pointed out the sexual content was only with those aged 11 and older.
Karim, of Stockwell Road, London, groomed the girl between January and March, pressured her to meet up, drove to Cornwall, met her in a school car park and had sex with her in the back of his car.
When she returned home she told a parent what had happened, the police were notified and Karim was traced to his flat. He at first denied the iPhone found there was his, but it rang when officers dialled the number he had given the girl.
He made no comment during police interviews but pleaded guilty when faced with the evidence,which included DNA identification, on the day his trial was due to start last month.
Judge John Neligan gave credit to Karim, who police told the West Briton was a "predatory child sex offender", for his plea, avoiding his victim having to give evidence and be questioned in court, but not as much as if he had done so earlier.
He gave him two two-year and two 18-month sentences, one for 12 months and one for six months, some to be served concurrently, adding to a total stretch of five years. The 210 days he has served on remand will count towards this and a sexual offences prevention order will be in place for 10 years.
Defence solicitor Michael Gomulka said the sexual acts were consensual and Karim had showed remorse, lost his marriage as a result and would have difficulty seeing his daughters, aged 12 and 9.
Judge Neligan added: "The message must go out that using social networking internet sites to solicit young, vulnerable girls who need to be protected will not be tolerated. We have to discourage other men from using the internet to do so."
After the sentencing, Julian Herbert, for the CPS, said: "The CPS worked closely with Devon and Cornwall police throughout this necessarily lengthy and complex investigation and it is testament to the hard work of the whole prosecution team that Karim pleaded guilty and the victim was not required to give evidence in court. We hope that the sentence passed today will bring some comfort and a degree of closure to the victim.
"This case illustrates that there are offenders who cast their net wide among children who have online access, taking advantage of their trust and naivety."
