A British army medic has been jailed for three years and ten months after admitting to sexually touching a child and possessing indecent images.

Scott Robert Fitzgerald (41), originally from Jersey, was sentenced in the Royal Court after being caught in an online sting operation.

Fitzgerald had been communicating with an undercover police officer posing as a fellow sex offender. He bragged about sexually touching a girl under 10, describing it as "tickling," and sent the officer pictures of the girl's underwear.

The court heard that Fitzgerald had unwittingly divulged his sexual interest in children to the undercover officer, believing him to be a like-minded individual. The sexual touching offence occurred while Fitzgerald was on leave from the British Army.

Fitzgerald was arrested for the sexual touching offense, and indecent images of children were found on his phone and laptop. There were nine images in total.

The prosecution argued that Fitzgerald had positioned the child and tickled her in a way that gave him sexual gratification.

Fitzgerald, who had attempted suicide in prison, claimed that he had made up a narrative to attract other users in the chat room and was trying to "catch them out."

The court considered additional evidence of alleged sexual misconduct in the UK, including 31 more images and online chat conversations suggesting Fitzgerald was seeking sexual contact with other children.

The court sentenced Fitzgerald to three years and ten months in prison and ordered him to register as a sex offender for at least ten years. A restraining order was also imposed to prevent him from contacting his victim.

The Deputy Bailiff, who handed down the sentence, stated that it was clear Fitzgerald had a "strong sexual interest in little children" and expressed concern that he had minimized his behavior.