A "dangerous" sex offender sentenced to 14 years for arranging child abuse meeting.

Alec Parkin, 49, a registered sex offender from Nottinghamshire, has been sentenced to a total of 14 years in prison after arranging a meeting in Bedford with the intention of sexually abusing a child.

Parkin, despite being a convicted child sex offender and under police monitoring, boasted about his ability to communicate using another device to evade detection.

He was arrested by Bedfordshire Police officers in Bedford after arranging the meeting. Devices seized from his home revealed incriminating conversations.

Parkin, of Baptist Lane, Collingham, Newark, pleaded guilty to arranging and facilitating the commission of a child sex offence. On Tuesday, he was sentenced at Luton Crown Court to a nine-year custodial sentence with a five-year extended licence due to his dangerousness and the significant risk he poses.

Emma Shipton, an investigation officer within Bedfordshire Police's Internet Child Abuse Investigation team, stated: "As the judge rightly said at sentencing, Parkin is a dangerous sex offender who would have carried out these heinous acts on an innocent child had he got the chance to."

"He was caught red-handed in the process of arranging a meeting and is now going to be spending a good chunk of time in prison. People such as Parkin should know that they will not get away with carrying out such an atrocious crime – we will find you and we will do all we can to lock you up and keep our communities safe from sex offenders."