Grooming a girl he believed was 12 online.

Paedophile Jailed for Grooming Underage Girl

Craig Hall, of High Road in Sandy, was sentenced to two years in prison at Luton Crown Court yesterday after being found guilty of three counts of attempting to incite a child under the age of 13 to engage in a sexual act.

Hall initiated an online conversation with an individual he believed to be 12 years old, sending sexually explicit messages and attempting to persuade the individual to perform sexual acts in exchange for money.

However, Hall was unaware that he was actually communicating with a 17-year-old teenager, who subsequently reported him to Bedfordshire Police.

Investigating officer Nicky Owen, from the Internet Child Abuse Investigation Team at Bedfordshire Police, stated: "Hall believed she was only 12 years old, and thinking she was of such a young age spurred him on even more in his attempts to engage in sexual activity. Behaviour such as this is completely unacceptable and it's only right and proper that we thoroughly investigate sexual predators such as Hall, in order to ensure that they are made to pay the price for their actions."

In addition to his prison sentence, Hall has been placed on the Sex Offender Register for 10 years and has received a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.