A 28-year-old man from Brighton who tried to lure someone he thought was a 13-year-old girl to have sex with him has been jailed for six years.
Mark Tulley, of Bowring Way, was given a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) in 2015 after inciting a real young teenage girl to send him nude pictures.
He has been in and out of court charged with breaching it ever since.
On 4 July this year, he logged onto an online messaging site and contacted and arranged to meet someone he thought was a 13-year-old girl in Worthing.
He asked about her underwear and her bra size, and tried to arrange to meet to have sex with her.
The very next day, he was hauled before Crawley Magistrates Court charged with breaching the order and arranging to have sex with a child.
He was committed to crown court, and after pleading guilty, he was sentenced on Tuesday to six years in prison with a further four years on extended licence
The charges followed an investigation by the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit (SEROCU) with support from Sussex Police’s Management of sexual offenders and violent offenders (MOSOVO) team.
Deputy Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Sergeant Dan Hope, of SEROCU, said: “Despite already being subject to a SHPO, Tulley chose to breach this and accessed an online messaging platform to communicate with and arrange sexual activity with someone who he believed to be underage.
“This clearly shows that he continues to pose a risk to our communities and he will now spend time in prison.
“In addition, he will be required to sign the sex offenders’ register indefinitely.
“SEROCU is committed to bringing perpetrators of sexual offences to justice.
“If you have any information about offences or you are a victim yourself, please contact your local police force by calling 101 or via their website.”
