Four years in prison for man who groomed girl for sex acts - The Redditch Standard

Four years in prison for man who groomed girl for sex acts

Redditch Editorial 2nd Mar, 2017   0

A MAN groomed an underage girl her over the internet before meeting her for sexual activity in his car after she contacted him out of the blue via Facebook.

And when the girl’s concerned mother, who lives in the Redditch area, contacted him, Paul Abbott, of Rock Hill, Bromsgrove, claimed to be only 18 himself.

But after she had discovered his true age by checking his Facebook page, she immediately called the police.

At Warwick Crown Court Abbott pleaded guilty to meeting a child following grooming, six charges of sexual activity with a child and three of inciting her to perform sex acts.




Abbott, 54, was jailed for four years and ordered to register as a sex offender for life.

Prosecutor Matthew Brook said Abbott’s victim was a girl of 15, but who had learning difficulties which meant she had a mental age of nine or ten.


She had first contacted Abbott after entering a name at random in a Facebook search and making a ‘friend request.’

Abbott then took advantage of the situation to groom the girl before arranging to meet her, which they did on four or five occasions in December 2015 and January last year.

In his car during those meetings, some of which took place after school, Abbott sexually touched her and got her to touch him.

But in February last year the girl’s mother contacted her social worker because she was concerned about her daughter talking about having a boyfriend.

Her mother checked the girl’s phone and discovered text messages of a sexual nature from Abbott, so she contacted him.

Mr Brook said Abbott told her he was 18, but when she checked his Facebook page she discovered he was actually 53 at that time.

Jamie Strong, defending, said: “There is nothing in his history to show he had any predilection for offending in this way.

“The gravity of the offending is not lost on him. He knows he’s going to face a substantial custodial sentence.”

The judge also made Abbott subject to a sexual harm prevention order, restricting his contact with children under the age of 16 and his internet use for ten years.

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