Jail for assault on UK girl, 12

A former US Marine has been sentenced for abducting and sexually assaulting a 12-year-old British girl.

Toby Studabaker was given a prison term of 11 years and four months by a federal judge in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

He pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography and transporting a child across international borders for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

Studabaker "groomed" the girl on the internet before meeting in Manchester and flying to Paris in July 2003.

Hotel stay

The ex-Marine was deported last June to face the charges in the US after being given concurrent sentences of four-and-a-half years each in the UK in April 2004.

He had admitted child abduction offences and inciting a child to commit an act of gross indecency.

The pair stayed in a Paris hotel, where they had sex, for two days before travelling on by train to Strasbourg.

Studabaker, from Three Rivers, Michigan, was arrested in Frankfurt, Germany, and extradited to the UK the following month.

The girl, from the Wigan area of Greater Manchester, cannot be named for legal reasons.