Man jailed over chatroom grooming

Christopher Johnson accessed chatrooms for teenagers

A 38-year-old man has been sent to jail for two years after he groomed and sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl he met in an internet chatroom.

Christopher Johnson, from Washbrook Drive in Darlington, travelled to Tyneside to meet up with the girl.

He pleaded guilty at Newcastle Crown Court to three counts of sexual assault and one of sexual grooming.

He also admitted making indecent images of children and videoing himself having sex with a woman without her knowledge.

Johnson went on-line between August and September 2007 and entered chatrooms for teenagers, despite admitting he was an adult.

He began to chat to a 15-year-old girl with the intention of grooming her for sex and also spoke to her via a web camera.

Det Con Dave Kernaghan, from Northumbria Police, said: "This case ably demonstrates the dangers of chatrooms which are aimed at teenagers but can easily be accessed by adults who use them deliberately as a means of finding young girls and grooming them for sexual purposes.

"I would like to remind parents of the dangers that their children can face when they log on to these chatrooms.

"We would also advise parents to talk to their children about the dangers of chatting to people on-line, agree with them that they will not give out any personal details to anyone, and tell them to never meet with anybody that they meet on-line."