A BAKER who groomed and carried out sex acts with a child cried and held his head in his hands as a judge sentenced him to five years and four months in prison.

David Lionel Baker, who was a company director at The Moody Baker, in Barnard Castle, was sentenced by video link at Newcastle Crown Court today.

The 43-year-old is also required to be on the sex offenders register for life and was given a indefinite sexual harm prevention order which includes restrictions such as not being allowed to have contact with children under the age of 16 and notifying the police three days before he uses a computer.

During a hearing on April 13, the court heard how the former baker had started messaging the then 15-year-old on Facebook in summer 2016 after becoming aware of some of her personal issues.

He continued to groom her with snapchats and video chats but these soon lead to the predator trying to "engage her in sexual conversations".

Jolyon Perks, prosecuting, said: "He asked her what type of men she was attracted to. He asked her whether she liked certain sizes of penis and many conversations involved talking about the size of his own penis."

Two months later, Mr Perks said Baker asked the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, to send him nude photographs of herself and speak to him sexually.

"He told her about his fantasies and requested she tell him he had a small penis," he said. "She sent nude pictures of herself on a number of occasions as she was worried if she didn't, he would tell people about her personal issues.

"The defendant sent numerous pictures of himself holding his erect penis and he would openly masturbate whilst on video chat at the complainant."

Mr Perks said another incident at a hotel in Newcastle involved Baker following the girl to her room and making her "trapped".

Baker pulled his trousers down when the girl refused to do it for him and then asked her to measure his penis with a tape measure he had brought with him.

The court heard how the girl reluctantly did what Baker asked and also masturbated him.

Being drunk and having taken a ecstasy, Baker was unable to ejaculate and left the room shortly after.

The girl confided in a friend three days later and Baker was arrested. Officers found letters addressed to his family while he also deleted most of his messages on his phone, telling police he knew he would be arrested.

When interviewed, Baker admitted the crimes gave him a "sexual thrill" but did not believe he was attracted to children.

In a victim statement the girl said the ordeal had left her anxious and suffering flashbacks.

While passing the sentence today, Judge Stephen Earl, said Baker was a high risk to children and had left his victim with what he would describe as post traumatic stress.

He said: "There was a significant degree of planning by you to take advantage of the opportunity to abuse lengthy grooming behaviours and of course there's a significant age disparity between you." 

Judge Earl said aggravating factors included the fact Baker had a previous conviction for a similar offence which he was given a suspended prison sentence for in 2007.

The fact he also tried deleted most of his messages to the girl in an attempt to hide evidence was also considered.

Jailing him for five years and four months, Judge Earl also told Baker he would also be subject to an extended licence of four years and a parole board would assess his risk to children before he was released.

Following the sentence, an NSPCC spokesperson said: "Baker targeted a girl who he knew was vulnerable and then exploited her appallingly. It is because she found the courage to speak out and go to the police that Baker has now been brought to justice.

"It is vital that young people are able to recognise the signs they are being groomed – whether it is online or face-to-face – and that they know how to get help.

"And the NSPCC is calling on the Government to make the online world safer by introducing measures including grooming alerts and an independent regulator to force social networks to keep children safe."

Anyone concerned about a child can contact the NSPCC's free and confidential helpline on 0808-8005000 while children and young people can contact Childline on 0800-1111 or childline.org.uk

To find out more about the NSPCC's campaign calling on the Government to bring in a new law to keep children safe online, visit nspcc.org.uk/what-we-do/campaigns/wild-west-web