A PAEDOPHILE from Reading has been given a suspended jail sentence for grooming and attempting to meet a teenage girl he had been sending sexually explicit messages to.
Philip Yeoman, of Newport Road, was sentenced at Southampton Crown Court on Monday, January 29.
The 51-year-old had pleaded guilty to attempting to communicate sexually with a child and attempting to meet with a child following sexual grooming.
The court heard that between Thursday, November 14 and Thursday, November 16 last year, Yeoman made contact with a 13-year-old via online messaging forums.
He sent sexually explicit messages, before arranging to meet in Southampton on that Thursday.
But police officers were waiting for him at Southampton’s railway station. They arrested him and then charged him the following day.
The court sentenced Yeoman to nine months’ imprisonment suspended for two years.
Yeoman must also carry out 150 hours of unpaid work, 35 hours of a rehabilitation activity requirement, will be on the sex offenders register for 10 years and is subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) for five years.
Investigating officer, Detective Constable Al Charnley, of South East Regional Organised Crime Unit (SEROCU), which led the investigation, said: “Yeoman’s actions were completely unacceptable and he has been brought to justice as a result.
“This case demonstrates that if you engage in this sort of conversation online, and look to arrange meetings of this nature, you face being arrested and taken to court, which will have an impact on your life and career, as well as having a huge effect on your family.”
