A father-of-two from Cashes Green who persuaded a 14 year old girl to perform sex acts online has been jailed for six years.

During just one month Michael Nash, 53, and the girl exchanged more than 3,000 texts during which he was sexually grooming her, Gloucester Crown Court was told on Friday.

Mr Nash, an engineer from Park View Drive, admitted seven offences of inciting the girl, who lives in Kent, to engage in sexual activity between February and April last year.

He also admitted three offences of making indecent photographs of children, one of possessing an extreme pornographic image and three offences of distributing indecent photographs of children in June and July 2015.

Judge Jamie Tabor QC jailed him for a total of six years and told him he would have to sign the sex offender register for life and would be subject to a sexual harm prevention order, also for life.

After sentencing him the judge turned to a group of school pupils visiting court and warned the girls amongst them never to let themselves be persuaded by anyone online.

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Jailing Nash, the judge said: "To all outward appearances you were a hard working engineer with the same job for 35 years, settled, a father of children, leading a perfectly ordinary life.

"But you had a very dark secret and it was a secret that no doubt you wanted to remain so. You have a distinctly unhealthy interest in young children and over a period of about a month you contacted and continued to contact this girl.

"You invited her to do things which no 14 year old girl should be asked to do by anyone, let alone a grown man old enough to be her grandfather.

"What you made her do will impact on her for some considerable time, if not the rest of her life. It was vile. You defiled this girl, that is what you did."

Turning to the schoolgirls in court he said "There will come a time when someone, maybe a boyfriend who you love, or someone you talk to online, asks you to send photographs of yourself to them.

“On many occasions such persons ask you to do things which you know you shouldn't do. Never, ever do it.

"If you think such images will disappear in a few moments they don't. They will exist for the rest of your life and that will cause you great embarrassment.

"Never, ever, send photographs via the internet of yourself unless you are fully clothed and in a decent pose - and that is the best advice I can probably give you, ever."

Prosecutor Simon Dent told the court that the girl was aware of Nash's age as he had not pretended to be younger or misled her about himself.

When he was arrested for his grooming of her the police found 163 extreme images on his laptop and phones.

Dermot Clarke, defending, said Nash could not understand why he had behaved as he did.