A MAN made repeated online requests to what he thought was a 14-year-old girl to send him naked images of herself, a court heard.

Christopher John Peart offered to pay ‘Kaylea’ £50 for each photo she sent him and £100 to buy her silence, telling her he was looking for a girl to “spoil”.

These and other indecent messages were sent despite it being made clear that ‘Kaylea’, a decoy profile posted by the paedophile-hunting group, the Child Online Safety team, was only aged 14.

Durham Crown Court, sitting at Newcastle, was told when confronted by a member of the team and before police arrived to arrest him, he tried to wipe clear his mobile phone of the messages.

Peart, 33, of Allerton Court, Stanhope, admitted attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.

Judge Ray Singh imposed a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, during which Peart must complete a 30-day sex offenders’ programme and undergo 20 other rehabilitation activity days, both overseen by the Probation Service.

He will also be subject to registration as a sex offender and the terms of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, both for ten years.