A paedophile who thought he was having "naughty chat" online with a 12-year-old girl was caught in a sting operation.

Luke Alder, 30, from Goole, engaged in graphic and explicit sexual conversations with a decoy profile created by police.

He was later found to have a stash of child pornography on his computer, including images of children as young as two.

Alder initially tried to claim that he was attempting to catch other predators, but this was rejected by the judge.

Hull Crown Court heard that Alder had been having conversations with the decoy on a children's chat account between August 14 and 21, 2020.

He asked the fake girl intimate questions and asked for a photograph. When she sent a picture of herself in pyjamas, he told her to take them off and asked for a topless image.

Alder also asked the decoy if she wanted "naughty chat" and whether she might become pregnant if they had sex.

He was arrested on September 15 last year and police found 19 indecent images of children and two videos in the most serious Category A, 18 images in Category B and eight in Category C as well as 38 prohibited images of children.

Some of the images showed children in pain or distress.

During police interview, Alder claimed that he was trying to catch other sexual predators by having sexual conversations online.

However, Judge Sophie McKone said that Alder clearly had a "sexual interest in children" and that his actions had contributed to the abuse of real children.

"You have contributed to the abuse of that child because, wherever there is a market out there that you feed into, children will continue to be abused. You intended penetrative sexual activity," said Judge McKone.

Alder was jailed for three years and given a sexual harm prevention order for life. He will also have to register as a sex offender for life.