A predator groomed a teenage girl on the PlayStation before meeting up with her in Blackpool.
Haider Khan, then in his late 20s, walked hand in hand with the 13-year-old girl around the town centre. The meeting came after Khan had engaged in sexual chats with the girl, firstly through online gaming and then using social media apps.
Jailing him for two years, Judge Tom Gilbart told 32-year-old Khan: “What you did is grossly serious and very concerning. It is just this sort of behaviour which causes so much concern to teenagers and their parents when their children are online.”
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Prosecuting, Gavin Howie told how the pair came to know each other online while playing on the PlayStation. The girl was said to be ‘particularly vulnerable’ because she has autism.
Later Khan suggested they swap telephone numbers, and the chat moved onto WhatsApp and Snapchat. It became sexualised, with Khan sending her an image of what he said was his penis.
She sent him an image of her when she was ‘partially unclothed’. Khan told her that he pleasured himself while looking at pictures of her.
At one stage the girl said that she was visiting Blackpool with her family. Khan then suggested that he could travel from Manchester to meet her there. Mr Howie said that when in Blackpool, the girl told her mother that she was going to the toilet.
In fact, she met up with Khan and the pair walked around holding hands together for about five minutes. Khan handed over a teddy which he’d bought her as a gift, before she returned to her family.
The girl later reported the relationship and the police became involved. She said she had been having an ‘online relationship with someone she thought was a paedophile’.
Officers seized her phone and they were able to track down Khan, who pleaded guilty to engaging in sexual communication with a child and meeting a child following sexual grooming.
Defending, Verity Quaite said that Khan, of Old Hall Lane, Rusholme, had not offended again in the three years since the police became involved. She said he had no previous convictions and has suffered from mental health issues.
Ms Quaite appealed for the judge to avoid sending Khan to prison. But Judge Gilbart told Khan: “These matters are so serious that appropriate punishment can only be achieved by immediate custody.” The judge also imposed a sexual harm prevention order, to last for ten years.
