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A HAMPSHIRE university lecturer tried to kill himself after being caught in an international sting operation set up to tackle child abuse.

David Clarke, 46, was duped into believing he was chatting to another paedophile in reality he was talking to a special agent stringing him along about exchanging sickening images of children.

The case was so disturbing that one officer investigating it had to take a break from her work at one stage because she found the work so distressing.

Clarke, a senior lecturer in psychology at Southampton Solent University, was later arrested at his home which he shared with his partner and their three young children.

An examination of his laptop and a memory stick revealed about 1,800 images involving children as a young as three being subjected to a horrifying catalogue of bondage, rape and sadism.

Prosecutor Tom Wright told the city crown court Clarke, who had been using chatrooms under the aliases of Davyboy, Emma Watson 27, and Kirstyandlouise, refused to give his password to the police who were unable to gain access to his accounts to determine the full amount of his trafficking.

Clarke, of Median Road, Shirley, admitted 20 charges of making, possessing and distributing still and moving images between the summer of 2009 and last November and was jailed for 30 months.

He had pleaded guilty to the charges at his preliminary hearing but sentence had been adjourned after he had tried to commit suicide.

Judge Peter Henry said: The images concern a high number of different victims and there was a deliberate and systematic searching of the Internet for images for your sexual gratification.

You deny you find children sexually attractive but in my view, sexual gratification is at the forefront of your offending.

The judge said he accepted Clarke had suffered mental health problems, depression and alcoholism but he could not have misunderstood the harm he was causing children.

Stephen Tricker, defending said Clarke had strayed into viewing the material after searching the Internet for interest in other areas and then going into adult sites.

He has expressed remorse and knows the shame he has brought upon himself and his family. He is motivated to tackle the treatment programme.

Mr Tricker added: His self-destruction is complete.

In addition to the jail term, Clarke was placed on the sex offenders register and banned from working with children.

Under the terms of a sexual offences prevention order, he has restricted use of the Internet and cannot not be left alone with children except with the knowledge of the police or the childs parents.

After the case a spokesman for Southampton Solent University said: The individual concerned has not been present or teaching at the university for many months now.

The university was first notified of this issue last week and has already put in place steps to address this as a matter of urgency.

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Judge Derwin Hope said he was "concerned" about the case when he agreed to the application from defence barrister Richard Onslow.

Benjamin Larmer, 20, of Bishops Road, Itchen, had pleaded guilty to three charges of having sexual activity with two 15-year-olds, and one count of meeting a third girl after sexual grooming.

Larmer was further remanded in custody until July 21.

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AN 18-YEAR-OLD man has been jailed for raping a girl at his Knutsford Road home.

Adam Jones was sentenced to six years in prison at Birmingham Crown Court on Monday.

He was found guilty of one count of rape and one count of assault.

The court heard he attacked a teenage girl, known to him, on June 11 last year.

Police say they were lying on a bed together when he turned violent and raped her.

She managed to fight him off by elbowing him in the face.

In a separate attack two weeks earlier, Jones had beaten the same victim up, punched her to the face and ribs, knocking her unconscious.

She went to hospital and still suffers from blurred vision.

DC Laura Smith, from Cheshire Police, investigated the case.

She said: "Rape is an horrific offence, which affects victims in the most profound way.

“In this case the sexual offence was compounded by a serious assault, which could leave the young victim with lasting injuries.

"She has been incredibly brave throughout the case and was forced to relive the incident during the trial.

“I would like to thank the victim for her willingness to stand up to her attacker and see him brought to justice.

“I hope that the conclusion of this case will give her some closure and allow her to get on with her life.

"Cheshire Police is committed to tackling sexual violence and our Dedicated Rape Unit helps and supports victims of this type of crime.

"I hope this sentence - and the bravery shown by the victim - gives others who may have suffered in silence the courage to come forward."

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FOR two years he had kept his shame a secret.

Unknown to his wife, Philip Cant had recorded a 80-minute video of him molesting a young girl who he had lured to a room where he had set up cameras to film them.

The youngster had legitimately posed for pictures to help the paedophile and his wife promote their children’s clothing business.

Cant kept the video, which also showed shots of the girl semi-naked, on a computer memory stick for future viewing for his own sexual gratification.

And he got away with it – until he worked abroad as an engineer in Belgium.

A colleague found the stick, discovered the images and called police in Antwerp. They arrested Cant and notified colleagues in England.

Cant admitted assaulting the girl and keeping the images.

Gavin Sumpter, prosecuting at Southampton Crown Court, said: “He admitted in interview he was a paedophile and had been since he was 15-year-old, with a preference for girls aged between six and eight.”

Cant, 55, of Myrtle Road, Southampton, pleaded guilty to two charges of sexual assault and four of making an indecent image. He received a four-year jail term with a six-year extended licence.

The court heard Cant had two significant previous convictions. In 1972 he admitted sexually abusing an eight-year-old and in 1989 he had committed gross indecency with a five-year-old.

Sentencing, Judge Derwin Hope said: “You have acknowledged you can’t be alone with young girls and not abuse them. You pose a significant risk of causing significant harm to the public.”

The judge ordered Cant to be placed on the sex offenders’ register and the subject of a sexual offences prevention order, both indefinitely.

In mitigation, Neil Fitzgibbon said Cant was ashamed of his behaviour and had referred himself for psychological assessment to try to combat his desires.

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HE posted vile pictures of young girls being abused on the Internet that were beamed around the world.

Richard Couzens thought his sickening behaviour would go undetected after uploading the images to a Russian website via his mobile phone.

Now the 30-year-old from Southampton has been brought to justice - with the help of eagle eyed police using clever technology on the other side of the world.

Southampton Crown Court heard how Australian police officers discovered the sordid images on a Russian website and set about finding out who was responsible for them.

Using the latest techniques to solve cyber crime they began tracking the images - leading them straight to the door of Couzens, from Chettle Road, Southampton.

The information was passed on to detectives from Hampshire police who arrested Couzens and took him in for questioning.

Prosecutor Christopher Wing told the city crown court how he confessed to police that he had taken pictures of a youngster who he also sexually abused. He posted them on the Internet along with others of children aged between three and eleven - blaming his actions on his addiction for images of young girls.

Couzens, 30, admitted 20 charges of taking and making indecent images, distributing them and assault by penetration.

He was jailed for 10 years with a five year extended licence. He was also placed on the sex offenders register and made the subject of a sexual offences prevention order, both for life.

Jailing him, Judge Derwin Hope told Couzens: “You committed a serious breach of trust.

“You took pictures of this girl and then distributed them over the web for other like minded people.

“This was particularly shocking and illustrates the deep seated nature of your perversion that has manifested for more than five years.”

The judge told Couzens he represented a significant risk to the public, especially to young girls, and extended his licence because he considered him dangerous.

In mitigation, Susan Ridge told the court how Couzens had struggled with his addiction and though he wanted help, he felt unable to do it.

“He is deeply remorseful and greatly distressed at what he has done. He is ashamed of what he has done and knows he will he will go away for a long time and the impact it will have on his family.”

Couzens, who she added was motivated to address his offending in prison, was of previous good character.

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HE is the monster who repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted a young woman for nine hours while she was unconscious. Vile Lloyd Phillips had fed his victim a cocktail of drugs and alcohol, having duped her into thinking he was taking her to a pop concert. Instead she became seriously ill and suffered seizures, leaving her at the mercy of the depraved 48-year-old who then carried out a catalogue of hellish abuse in a hotel. Many of the details of what he did to her while she was incapacitated and the injuries she suffered at his hands are too horrific to be reported. With his 22-year-old victim slumped unconscious in a wheelchair, he pushed her from his car into the hotel telling staff she was his girlfriend who was disabled and drunk. He then carried out the sickening ordeal throughout the night while she lay motionless on the bed, completely unaware. The full, horrifying details of Phillips vile crimes which landed him with an 11-year jail term last month can only now be revealed by the Daily Echo after legal restrictions prevented us from reporting the case previously. It comes as police reveal they believe Phillips is a sexual predator who has raped many more victims and today appealed for them to come forward. Well known as the former owner of a shop that sold legal highs in Southampton, Phillips had been facing further charges relating to selling illegal drugs. However, this week, as he prepared to stand trial, he changed his plea and admitted possessing class B and class C drugs, which he had sold as legal highs called Giggle and Magic. The married man, who lived in Portland Terrace, Southampton, has been behind bars since last month after being found guilty by a jury at Harrow Crown Court of two counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault by penetration and one count of sexual assault. He was acquitted of one charge of supplying drugs with intent. The case was a retrial after the original proceedings had to be stopped, during which time Phillips was released on bail and was living in Southampton. The court heard how at the time the victim, who once regarded Phillips as a friend, was at a low point in her life and was having problems at work. Just weeks before Christmas 2011 he offered her tickets to accompany him to see a concert at Wembley, picked her up from her home and gave her a capsule and a can of the high-alcohol Crunk juice to wash it down. The drug, which he later said was Ecstasy, was in fact found to be controlled substance BZP, a stimulant that can trigger epileptic seizures and fits. It had such an effect on the woman that she was left with little memory of the car journey to London. But CCTV footage recovered by police revealed what happened next as Phillips could be seen arriving at the hotel, near Wembley Stadium, asking staff to give him a wheelchair. Cameras then showed him wheeling the girl from his car, her head slumped forward and with his bag resting on her legs as he headed to a lift and the room. Aside from a brief memory of a clock that read 3.48 and a feeling that she was contorted, the woman had no memory of what happened, the court was told. She woke confused, with Phillips telling her they had engaged in a night of consensual sex. It was some 24 hours later that the effects of the drug began to wear off and the full, horrifying impact of what had happened to her started to emerge. Feeling ill, unable to use the toilet, her tongue and her arms bruised, she went to hospital where doctors took one look at her and called in police. Jailing Phillips, Judge Mrs Justice Levy told him: She suffered two or three seizures outside in the car park, but you did not seek medical assistance because you were worried you could not stay in the hotel. You told her she had chosen to have nine hours of sex instead of going to the concert. She did not remember anything of the things you talked about. It came as a complete shock to her.

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Darren Mackrell was caught when one of the mothers called police.

A man who drugged and raped three schoolchildren after meeting them at a Hampshire park playground has been given an indeterminate jail sentence.

Darren Mackrell, 45, raped two boys aged eight and 10 and a girl, nine, at his Southampton flat on 21 April.

He had admitted 18 charges of rape, sexual assault, forcing the viewing and engagement in sexual acts and drugging.

The court heard he forced the children to sexually abuse each other while he watched during the six-hour ordeal.

Winchester Crown Court was told that the unemployed drug addict, of Wilton Avenue, gave the children cannabis, amphetamines and Viagra.

He also threatened to hurt them if they tried to leave - showing one boy a large hunting knife.

Judge Gary Burrell QC told Mackrell he would spend at least 10 years in jail and may never be released if he continued to pose a danger to children.

'Depths of depravity'

Sentencing Mackrell, he said: "As a parent, when a child goes missing, you fear the worst, you fear something bad has happened to them.

"Something bad did happen to these three young children on that day.

"Your behaviour towards them plumbed the depths of human depravity.

"There is no room for mercy, Darren Mackrell, in a case as horrific as this. What you did to these children was truly dreadful."

The court heard Mackrell's victims had been traumatised by their ordeal with one boy harming himself and writing suicide notes and the girl unable to speak about it.

Mackrell was caught after one of the children's mothers became concerned about their whereabouts and went to the park to look for them.

She found out that the children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were at Mackrell's home and called the police when nobody answered.

An officer tried to break the door down after looking through the letterbox and seeing a pornographic video playing on the television.

Mackrell, who pleaded guilty to all the charges on the eve of his trial, was placed on the sex offenders register for life.

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“WE just sat there, sitting and cuddling each other because we were really scared”.

That was how children described the horror of hearing their mother being attacked and subsequently raped in the bedroom next to theirs.

Daniel Wardrop subjected the young woman to a harrowing ordeal that lasted more than two hours, threatening to harm the children if she did not do as he asked.

Southampton Crown Court heard how the attack began when Wardrop, who was 19 at the time, came to the Southampton home in the early hours of March 17.

He began making advances and then became violent when his victim did not respond and tried to call police.

It also emerged in court that Hampshire police are now being investigated for how they handled that call.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission – the watchdog for police forces – will look at how the call was dealt with and the decision not to deploy officers.

Prosecutor Robert Pawson said Wardrop snatched the phone from her while he put his other hand around her throat so she could not speak to the operator.

When the police rang back Wardrop told his victim to say everything was fine, or else he would kill her.

The court heard how he followed her around the flat, not letting her out of his sight before eventually raping her, telling her: “I am going to make your kids suffer if you don’t”.

She later told police officers she was physically shaking with fear at what was going to happen to her.

Mr Pawson also read from statements given by her children.

One described seeing parts of the attack while another spoke of being in tears and hearing her mother cry. “She shouted: ‘Don’t,” the youngster said.

Wardrop eventually left after making her promise she would not tell anyone, but the woman broke down and phoned her dad. He described her as “hysterical”.

as she told him what had happened and he called the police.

Wardrop was subsequently arrested and statements taken from friends described how he had bragged about the attack in the hours afterwards.

Wardrop, now aged 20, of no fixed abode, admitted one count of rape.

In a victim impact statement the woman said she had been unable to go upstairs since the attack and had been sleeping with her children in the lounge as a result. She had also taken the handle off the door to the bedroom where she was raped so no one could go in.

In sentencing Wardrop to eight years in prison and classifying him as a dangerous offender with an extended four-year licence, Judge Gary Burrell QC said: “This was a deplorable rape of a young woman in her own home with her children present. There is no room in my judgement for mercy in your case."

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A Southampton man who regulary sexually abused two girls has been locked up for 20 years.

Simon Haddon was convicted of nine counts of indecent assault, indecency with a child, and three specimen charges of rape against one of them.

This was a dreadful and systematic sexual abuse of a very high order, Judge Derwin Hope told the 51-year-old.

Her impact statement speaks not only of the physical pain you caused her over the years but also the psychological damage you have done to her and how you robbed her of her childhood.

It is said you seemed to be trying to paint yourself as the victim in this case. Nothing can be further from the truth.

Haddon, of Bluebell Road, Bassett, was also convicted of five charges of indecent assault on the other girl.

He was arrested after one victim told her mother.

She in turn informed the girls boyfriend and he spoke to her mother who called in the police.

Haddon, who denied the allegations, was also banned from working with children and under the terms of a sexual offences prevention order cannot be left alone wth a girl, both for indefinite periods.

After the case Detective Constable Wendy Rogers said: I would like to commend the strength of the victims and witnesses in this case, who together have ensured that this individual has been made to answer for his crimes.

I would also like to thank the Independent Sexual Violence Advisers from Southampton Rape Crisis for their assistance and support.

The Independent Sexual Violence Advisors (ISVA) team spokesperson Tracey Stovold added: It takes an enormous amount of courage for victims to come forward and report these types of offences and they often do so not just to see justice being done but in the interests of protecting others.

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A PERVERTED foster carer was allowed to systematically sexually abuse young girls in his care even after the alarm was raised by a five-year old who had been raped.

Despite the desperate cry for help paedophile Rex Case went on to sexually assault other young girls who lived with him.

Today the 68-year-old, who carried out his depraved abuse over 30 years, is facing spending the rest of his life in prison after being found guilty of a catalogue of sickening crimes.

Judge Peter Henry told Case he was devious, manipulative and controlling and his sentence would be a very long one.

Jurors at Southampton Crown Court took just over four hours to return unanimous guilty verdicts on 18 counts of abuse, including indecent assaults and rape.

The case had taken almost two years to come to court but spanned back to the 1980s when Case preyed on his first victim, who was a girl aged 15.

The Daily Echo has sought the consent of each of the five victims and had to make a special application to the judge in order to reveal the full and sickening behaviour of Case.

Today the girls and their families are demanding answers as to why Case was allowed to continue to foster and why social services chiefs in Hampshire and Southampton or police failed to step in to stop him.

During the past two and a half weeks jurors have heard how Case:

• Raped a girl under the age of five.
• Sexually assaulted girls daily, sometimes in their bedrooms or in the bathroom.
• Would sneak into rooms while they were sleeping to touch them.
• Would bathe and dry girls as old as 13, rubbing baby oil and cream on them.
• Would carry out some of his vile acts while his wife Carol watched.
• The sex abuse was carried out mostly in Cases large family home in Holly Hill, Bassett, Southampton, where the couple lived with their son Dean.

Giving evidence in his own defence Case told how he had fostered some 24 boys and girls since qualifying as a foster carer.

But he went on to say he had many more young girls staying in his home 34 in total who included foreign children who had come to Southampton to study.

Bravery of victims

THE depraved actions of Rex Case towards the children he was supposed to be caring for would never have been told in full if it wasnt for the bravery of his victims.

The Daily Echo faced legal constraints which meant we would be unable to identify Case and what he did to the girls he was fostering unless they agreed to partially waive their anonymity. Each of the victims, who are now all over the age of 18, however, agreed to our request in order to ensure that justice was done in the public eye.

The Daily Echo also received the backing of Judge Peter Henry, who listened to an application made by this newspaper in court, to relax the law surrounding anonymity for victims of sexual offences under the Sexual Offences Amendment Act 1992.

The judge ruled that the case was so serious that it was in the public interest that the identity of Case and what he had done to those children should be revealed in full.

Victim One

The court was told how his first victim, who we are referring to as M, was aged 15 and lived with Case between August 1982 and August 1983.

She had already suffered a childhood of sexual abuse but Case took advantage of her while she was drunk sitting on her bed, stroking her and kissing her open mouthed.

Victim Two

His second victim was much younger aged just 20 months when she first lived with Case in June 1995, because he was fostering her mother.

The court was told how the little girl, known as J, grew up being told to call Case grandad.

She would have to watch him having sex with her mother before he began to turn his attention to her.

Jurors were told how Cases wife would sometimes watch as J was abused in her bedroom, where she would be locked in behind a stair gate, and in the bath.

It was so sustained she would be left crying out in pain, being sick and bleeding.

When it was over he would tell her she was dirty and disgusting and when she complained it hurt he would laugh.

Victim Three

Cases third victim, A, was aged four to five when she spent six months living with Case from July 1998, when her mum was too unwell to look after her.

She was scared and felt unsafe living with him and he would tell her she had sexy legs and looked good.

He would make her kiss him on the lips and he would kiss her neck, face and touch her bottom.

In her bedroom he would tickle her and then sexually assault her on her bed and he would dry her and abuse her when she took a shower.

Victim Four

In June 2000 Cases fourth victim, referred to as R, went to stay with him at the age of six. He was her mothers foster carer but was minding her daughter.

She woke on two occasions to find Case who she was made to call grandad sexually assaulting her under the blanket, having pulled her pyjamas down below her knees.

It was only just before R was about to sit her GCSEs in May 2010 that she finally plucked up the courage to tell her mother what had happened.

Victim Five

His final victim, M, was aged 13 and was not being fostered by Case when she first stayed with him in June 2003.

During a holiday in Florida he would sneak into her bedroom and sniff her hair and he sexually assaulted her on the couch.

Back home in Southampton a year later the girl was sexually assaulted by Case every other night and he would tell her it was their special time.

The girl told how she let it continue for five years because she had a younger sister and didnt want it to happen to her.

Case showed no emotion yesterday as he was told he would be remanded in custody until he is sentenced for his crimes.

Judge Henry told him he could not exclude an indeterminate sentence because he had concerns over him posing a danger, particularly to young girls, in the future.

Rex Case the man the jury didnt believe

REX Case began fostering vulnerable children 30 years ago after replying to an advert from Hampshire Social Services who were appealing for more carers.

He and his wife Carol, who met as childhood sweethearts and married in the 1960s, underwent training to deal with children with extreme problem backgrounds.

Despite their 49-year marriage, the court heard that in 1988 Case was having an affair.

They had a child of their own, a son named Dean, who provided them with a grandson. They all lived together at the family home in Holly Hill, Bassett.

Case, who was born on October 30, 1943, has always maintained that the fostering of children was his wifes job he was working in a One Stop warehouse in the security department until he retired at the age of 57.

It was in the early 1980s when the Cases took in their first child, but he went on to foster a total of 24 boys and girls in the years that followed.

A self confessed homophobe of 40 years, Case and his wife also took in respite placements and he told the court that, including foreign students who came to stay with him, a total of 34 girls lived in his home in 35 years.

He told jurors: There were 34 and we are proud of it. They made me feel young.

I enjoyed the children. We had a big house, a big garden, it was fun.

Case has always maintained his innocence and denied ever bathing or helping children with the toilet due to his aversion to bodily fluids.

The court was told Case had numerous previous convictions relating to his younger years, beginning with theft when he was just nine years old when he stole sweets from Woolworths.

He also had convictions for causing criminal damage, burglary with intent to steal, theft of a gun and possession of a weapon in a public place.

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Aaron Cool was 18 when he formed a relationship with the girl through a social network site. When he met her mother she became worried about the difference in age and laid down ground rules banning them from being alone in the girl's room.

Prosecutor Siobhan Linsley said the relationship lasted three months then the girl "made disclosures to her mother about the defendant".

A friend had also been concerned and had already contacted police. On arrest, Cool admitted they had sexual intercourse five times at the girl's parents' home.

The court heard Cool, when 17, had been involved in a relationship with a 13-year-old but she did not make a complaint.

Now 19, Cool, of Oakwood Drive, Lordshill, Southampton, had sentence adjourned until February 24 for reports.

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The pair met through a social network site and went to his uncle's home, where they stayed for the night and had sex.

Prosecutor Andy Houston told Southampton Crown Court Scott Chapman then took her by taxi to her foster mother's home.

The girl, who had been reported as missing, told police she needed the morning-after pill.

The girl posted herself on the network site as being 17 but when she met Chapman, told him she was 15. She was really only 12.

Chapman, 18, of Manor Farm Road, Bitterne Park, Southampton, admitted two counts of rape of a girl under 13 and one count of assault by penetration.

Judge Derwin Hope also placed Chapman, who had five previous convictions, on the sex offenders register for ten years.

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A Southampton staff nurse who sparked an international search over fears that he had contracted malaria during a drugs trial was detained under the Mental Health Act today for sexually assaulting a waitress. Matthew Lloyd, 36, sparked the appeal in October 2010 when he failed to keep an appointment in Oxford for the trial. There were fears he would die unless he received medical care. Last September, a jury at Southampton Crown Court took just 50 minutes to find him guilty of the assault on the woman, then aged 20, on August 21 2010 as she walked home in Southampton. He was also found guilty of common assault on the same woman. At the time of his disappearance, Lloyd had been arrested over the incident but not charged. He was found in Holland, came back to the UK and he did not contract the disease. Southampton Crown Court heard today that Lloyd was suffering from schizophrenia and would require long-term care. Judge Susan Evans QC sentenced Lloyd to a hospital order and also an unlimited restriction order over concerns that he was a danger to the public. He was ordered to sign the sex offenders register for life. ''Your victim was clearly vulnerable... She thought she was going to be raped by you,'' the judge told Lloyd. ''You are in a state of complete denial about what you have done and that is of concern to this court. ''Because of the nature of the offence and the risk of you committing further offences when set at large, I take the view that it's necessary for the protection of the public from serious harm to make a restriction order.'' During the three-day trial, the victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said a smiling stranger grabbed her bottom hard as she walked in Southampton city centre. The woman told the jury she pressed her fingers into his windpipe to try to fight him off as he continued to assault her sexually. She said the only thing he said was: ''How are you doing?'' Later she ran into Lloyd, who tried to attack her again but she fended him off and got home. ''Both times he was smiling,'' she said. ''He enjoyed me being in fear.'' The court heard she called the police the same day and picked Lloyd out of identification photographs but Lloyd, who is from Southampton, denied to police he was the attacker. Lloyd was working at Southampton General Hospital in the infectious disease ward at the time of the attack.

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POLICE overheard a prostitute pleading with a drunken punter not to harm her after she had dialled 999. The woman was working on the street when she was approached by Derry Gilfoy who agreed to pay 40 for her services, and they went to the nearby car park of a motor cycle dealership. But Southampton Crown Court heard that Gilfoy, who had been drinking heavily, became violent, shouting and swearing at her before slapping her across the face. He then told the woman that as a working girl she would do as she was told, forcing her to the ground and hitting her. Prosecutor Kate Freemantle said the heroin addict however managed to dial 999 on her mobile phone she had hidden down her top and they could hear her, crying, screaming and pleading with him to get off her. Afterwards Gilfoy went home where he collapsed on the sofa before going to bed. He was trapped by DNA left on her scarf. Gilfoy, 36, of Rowan Close, Southampton, admitted rape, assault by penetration and possessing cannabis which was found at his home after his arrest. Jailing him for five years, Judge Patrick Hooton told him: You treated this woman, prostitute or not, appallingly badly. You humiliated her. In mitigation, Richard Onslow was remorseful and had saved the woman from the ordeal of having to give evidence. He must live with what he has done for a very long for what was cheap sexual gratification. He has ruined his life and that of his family. Gilfoy was also placed on the sex offenders register for life.

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He billed himself as a “special guy” and lavished a young girl with attention and affection.

Within just a few weeks, through endless conversations over the Internet, he had told the 13-year-old how much he cared for her and even convinced her they should meet. But behind the façade, the man she thought had become her boyfriend was in fact a 29- year-old paedophile grooming her for sex.

Depraved Robert Ive is today starting a four-year jail term after luring the vulnerable girl into his clutches and having under-age sex with her on three occasions.

It’s thought the girl, who had been bullied at school and “sought solace” in her laptop computer, had only been in contact with him for a matter of months, if not weeks, before she succumbed to his charm.

It’s not the first time Ive has been hauled before the courts for sickening behaviour with a child, having previously been convicted of sexually touching a ten-year-old girl he approached in a swimming pool.

At Southampton Crown Court he was described as “a real danger to young children”.

Judge Tom Longbotham told Ive, who pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual activity with a child aged 13-18, his conduct had been predatory.

He said: “You identified her and you had sex with her. It seems that was the only reason to contact her. You took every opportunity to have sex with her.”

Ive’s behaviour – thought to be the first Facebook grooming case in Hampshire – was only uncovered by detectives when a hunt was launched for the 13-year-old who had vanished from her Southampton home.

Some 30 police officers were involved in the search, after she stormed out of her house following a family row over who she was contacting on social networking sites.

The girl, who cannot be identified, then rang Ive who picked her up and took her to his north Hampshire home to spend the night.

Her disappearance sparked a major investigation involving specialist units examining her phone and computer to see who she was in contact with.

The girl’s mother also made desperate attempts to contact her daughter before Ive drove her back to the outskirts of the city the following morning and left her to make her own way home. She then revealed how she had been having sex at Ive’s instigation, at her home when her mother was asleep, as well as at his rented bedsit in Cambridge Road, Farnborough.

Ive told her he was 26 and though she warned him she was 13, he reassured her: “Age doesn’t matter.” Before his capture, Ive, who worked as a cloakroom attendant in Yates’ Wine Lodge, was spending hours online.

He used Facebook – under the guise of “special guy” although he never showed his picture or gave his real name – and also MSN, where he nicknamed himself “kute_guy69” and somehow befriended the girl.

Detectives believe Ive could have more victims across the country and say investigations are continuing to determine if he has been in contact with other schoolgirls on his computer.

He is now behind bars and has been banned from working with under-age girls in the future, and placed on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely.

But the case is one that will shock parents and raises the question of just how safe children are on the Internet, and what can be done to protect them? Ive’s conviction comes as Facebook has unveiled plans to transform its privacy settings, making it easier for members to stop their personal information being viewed by people they don’t know.

Detective Inspector Simon Baker, who led the investigation, said: “Children want to grow up so quickly now and some girls in their early teens can have a tendency to think they are older and more independent than they really are.

“They think they know their minds, that their parents don’t know what’s best for them and they go off on their own. They don’t realise they are incredibly vulnerable in these situations and there are people out there who will take advantage.

“The method of choice for paedophiles wanting to engage with young females is through the Internet.

“They can hide their true identify and make false promises to their potential victims, making them believe that they love them, care for them and will look after them. These men will say anything to try and gain the trust of those they are conversing with, all the time hiding their true intentions.”

A spokeswoman for Facebook said: “We are deeply concerned by both the crimes committed by Robert Ive and his determination to groom young people online. We have co-operated with the police in this matter and disabled his profile when this came to light, and will continue to work with them in any ongoing investigation.

“This case serves as a reminder that all Internet users must use extreme caution when talking to or meeting people they only know via the Internet.

“Facebook’s top priority is to maintain and improve safety for our users.

“Educating young people about safety online is vital and that is why we recently launched the UK’s biggest campaign on this issue. This involves a £5m initiative aimed solely at teaching young people to take responsible decisions online.”