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Chatroom addict had sex with girl, 13, court hears
By Richard PainJanuary 12, 2012
A MAN who confessed to being addicted to internet chatrooms has been jailed for five years after admitting a series of sex offences against two young girls he met over the web.
Liam Wood, from Farnborough, travelled 170 miles to meet a 13-year-old Lincolnshire girl for sex after grooming her on a chatroom.
Phil Howes, prosecuting, told Lincoln Crown Court that Wood booked into Lincoln’s Holiday Inn and arranged for the girl to visit him.
He took her into his hotel bedroom where he kissed and groped her but she left before things went any further.
A fortnight later Wood returned to the city and met the girl at the same hotel for a second time. On this occasion they had sex in his room before he accompanied her out of the building where she was collected by her grandmother.
The girl later decided to end the relationship and deleted him from her Facebook friends.
Subsequently the relationship became knowledge at her school and police were contacted.
Mr Howes said: “Wood told an officer he knew that what he was doing was wrong but he got carried away”.
Wood later confessed to having a similar relationship with a 14-year-old girl from Havant who he also met on an internet chatroom.
“He said he met her 10 to 15 times in Havant. They spent two weekends at the flat he shared with his brother in Farnborough. He said they had sex together.
“He admitted grooming. He described himself as being addicted, spending three to four hours at a time on the internet.
“He said his aim was to go online and speak to girls from the age of 13 upwards. It became a challenge to see how young he could go.”
Wood, 22, of Chapter House, Farnborough Road, Farnborough, pleaded guilty to three charges of grooming an underage girl and seven charges of sexual activity between August 2010 and January 2011.
He was jailed for five years and placed on the sex offenders’ register for life.
Judge Sean Morris told him: “These were young vulnerable girls. The law needs to protect such girls from themselves.”
Lloyd Edwards, defending, said Wood was a quiet and shy man who was nervous with members of the opposite sex.
“He became confident talking to young girls on the internet. He describes himself as being addicted to chatrooms,” he said.
He said Wood had no previous convictions and urged he be given credit for being completely frank with police.
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