Predator Imprisoned for Attempting to Meet '14-Year-Old' for Sex

Robert Ive, 42, was arrested on May 31 after attempting to meet a girl he believed to be 14 at Farnborough Railway Station. The girl's profile was actually being controlled by a police officer.

Ive, of Camberley, Surrey, initiated contact with the "girl" online on May 18. Despite being told she was 14, Ive engaged in sexually explicit conversations, prompting her to travel 100 miles from Leicestershire to Hampshire.

He groomed the child into travelling, offering instructions to avoid suspicion. He even pretended to be the girl's friend's father in a phone call to her mother, who was also an undercover officer.

Ive arrived at the station with cans of Strongbow cider, but was apprehended by a police officer who stepped off the train.

At Winchester Crown Court on August 11, Ive pleaded guilty to arranging/facilitating the commission of a child sex offence and breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order. He was sentenced to four years and eight months in prison.

PC Kirsti Innes of the Internet Child Abuse Team stated, "Robert Ive is a manipulative sexual offender with prior convictions for child sex offences. He attempted to meet who he believed was a 14-year-old child for his own sexual gratification. Our dedicated officers are trained to identify and apprehend these offenders. Without their efforts, this individual could have continued to groom real children."