Christopher Gamlin, 47, asked the teenager to send him photographs of her breasts, send her explicit images of himself and made plans for them to have sex
A bingo hall worker who asked a 13-year-old girl to send explicit photos then made plans to have sex with her in a park has been jailed for almost two years.
Christopher Gamlin, 47, asked the teenager to send him photographs of her breasts, send her explicit images of himself and made plans for them to have sex.
Cardiff Crown Court heard Gamlin was caught by a paedophile hunter group called Keeping Kids Safe when one of their members set up an online account pretending to be a child and he started a sexually explicit conversation with them.
The court heard Gamlin made arrangements to meet the girl at a cinema and for them to have sex in a park although the judge noted he never followed up on the plans.
Judge Jeremy Jenkins said Gamlin had a ‘very unhealthy’ interest in children and told him: ‘You were repeatedly told she was only 13 years of age.’
The court heard the offending occurred between September 22 and October 22.
Gamlin was confronted at his home by members of Keeping Kids Safe on October 21 and was then arrested by police but did not answer any of their questions.
When he was confronted by the paedophile vigilante group he claimed he was ‘going to stop today’ and messaged the 13-year-old girl because he was ‘bored’.
He allegedly said he wanted to have sex with the girl on top of an NCP car park and said he was going to take intimate photos of her.
He then sent a string of vile and graphic messages detailing how he wanted to have sex with her.
The 47-year-old invited her to the cinema and said they should sit on the back row and she should ‘wear a skirt’. He also left a voice message saying he ‘couldn’t wait to get his hands on her’.
He also allegedly told the 13-year-old girl to google the word paedophile as he apparently said he was a ‘bad man for asking her to have sex with her’.
Gamlin, from Cardiff, pleaded guilty to attempting to meet a child after grooming and attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity.
Gamlin was confronted at his home by members of Keeping Kids Safe and was then arrested by police but did not answer any of their questions
The court heard he had a relevant caution for making indecent images of a child but his barrister stressed he had no previous convictions.
Judge Jenkins gave Gamlin a 21-month jail term.
He said he could not suspend the sentence due to Gamlin’s previous caution and the determination he showed in trying to meet the child.
Judge Jenkins added: ‘These offences are too serious to be dealt with by anything short of an immediate custodial sentence.’
He also imposed a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.