Jake Hurt, 27, attempted to meet the child on November 29 last year at Sheffield railway station with the intent to take her home and have sex, Sheffield Crown Court heard today.

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Hurt has been jailed for 12 years after being arrested by the police officer who was posing as the 12-year-old girl, Amelia, as part of an undercover investigation.

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Hurt had been texting ‘Amelia’ on Kik, a messaging app, since November 13, a month after he was sentenced to a community order for two previous child sex offences, said prosecution barrister Ian West.

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Mr West said that the messages were normal at first, but quickly turned into asking for massages, referring to spanking and specific sexual references.

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Posing as a 17-year-old boy, Hurt also sent indecent images to the child on Snapchat.

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The defence barrister, Chris Aspinall, said the sentence should be reduced since he was not actually talking to a child and there was no sexual activity, there were only attempts.

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However, Judge Peter Kelson QC rejected this and said there was intent. The judge added: “If she was a child, he would have met her and would have been sexual with her. His actions were pre-planned, he even had condoms ready at home.”

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Jake Hurt, of Langsett Crescent, Hillsborough, Sheffield pleaded guilty to attempting to engage in sexual activity with a child and grooming.

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He also breached his community order conditions by deleting his whole internet history, the court was told.

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Judge Kelson said he had considered giving him a life sentence due to his previous convictions but decided to give him an extended sentence of 12 years in custody.

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The judge added that Hurt was a dangerous man. He said the defendant had deceived the probation services by claiming he was getting better when in fact he was planning to take a girl to his home address and engage in sexual activity straight after meeting with his probation officer.

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