A man who touched a vulnerable 13-year-old girl he had met on an over-18s website has been given a suspended prison sentence.
Charles Manners was in contact with the girl over the internet and met her in Middlesbrough the same day thinking she was 16, Teesside Crown Court heard.
She thought he was 18 or 19 when in fact he was about a decade older, said prosecutor Christine Egerton today.
She told him she was only 13 after she got into his car, but he went on to touch her and told her to touch him as they went for a drive.
The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told no one of the encounter at the time, back in August 2012.
She later said she decided to meet Manners because she was bored and was scared when she was with him. They were in contact on the internet months later.
The matter eventually came to light as a result of police inquiries to the website.
Manners was arrested and police found 57 indecent images on his laptop and a hard drive, most in the least severe category in law.
Officers found he had searched for filenames and had downloaded “matters which were indicative of searches of child abuse images”, added Miss Egerton.
In police interview, Manners initially denied meeting up with the girl.
But officers found computer logs and spoke to the girl, who picked Manners out at an identification procedure.
Manners, 31, of Malvern Road, Billingham, admitted two counts of sexual activity with a child and two of making indecent photographs of a child.
He also admitted one charge of possessing prohibited images of a child - two illegal “cartoons” deemed to be grossly offensive, disgusting or obscene.
He had no relevant previous convictions and had never been to prison.
Oliver Thorne, defending, said the website where Manners met the girl was for over-18s and her profile said she was 18.
He said there was no targeting or grooming and, after the meeting, it was the girl who contacted him and he declined to meet.
He told how she had arranged to meet someone else who backed out when she told him her true age.
“It’s clear from the chat logs this was a deeply vulnerable girl who was being exploited by a number of people,” added Mr Thorne.
“There is no way that this defendant could possibly have known that at the time.
“This is a man with an interest he shouldn’t have.
“He’s doing something which is not desperately savoury. He’s meeting somebody he thinks is 16.”
He said Manners should have stopped the liaison when he learned her age, he showed remorse and insight and spared the girl having to give evidence.
He argued prison would be “destructive for very little gain” for a family man and breadwinner with a £35,000-per-year job, and it would be more beneficial to punish him in the community.
Judge Peter Armstrong told Manners: “Whatever her experience, she’s still a child.
“And normally where someone of your age has sexual contact with a child of that age, inevitably there would be an immediate custodial sentence.
“Although she was a vulnerable victim, you weren’t to know that at the time.
“You believed she was 16. You clearly have an unhealthy interest in young girls, in children.
“You should have realised what the situation was and not gone ahead with it.
“Children, whatever their experiences or attitudes, need to be protected from themselves.”
He said a short jail term would have “excessive” knock-on effects, costing Manners his job and home and giving him no treatment.
He gave Manners a four-month prison sentence suspended for two years with supervision and a sex offender treatment programme.
“That will be of long-term benefit to the community,” the judge added.
Manners was given a sexual offences prevention order governing his contact with girls under 16 and his internet use, and will be on the sex offenders’ register, both for five years.
He will also be banned from working with children.
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