A REDDITCH man has been jailed for two years after grooming a girl on a social netowrking site.

Richard Bragger, aged 41, of Astley Close, formed a relationship with the girl on Facebook when she was just 14.

He admitted causing or inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity.

He was sentenced at Worcester Crown Court on Monday, July 15, to two years imprisonment and was also ordered to register as a sex offender for 10 years, and given an indefinite Sexual Offences Prevention Order.

Bragger and the girl had regular intimate conversations on Facebook.

He was arrested after the girl’s mother became suspicious and discovered the contact.

Detective Constable Matt Skelton of West Mercia Police’s Child Protection Unit said: “Bragger was a grown man in his 40s and was aware the victim was only 14.

“Unfortunately social networking sites such as Facebook give sexual predators a new and easy way of targeting young people without necessarily having direct physical contact with them.

“With the school holidays starting and many teenagers being left to their own devices, it is a relevant time to warn parents of the dangers of young people face while accessing the internet unsupervised.

“One of the most important steps a parent can take to prevent their child becoming a victim of grooming is to insist the internet is accessed only on a computer located in a family room, rather than on laptops or mobile phones in bedrooms.

“It also imperative they sit down with their children to establish ground rules about internet use, including going through the list of friends they have social networking sites.

“Communicating with their children, taking an interest in what they are doing, and being approachable means a child is much more likely to tell them if they see anything online that makes them feel worried or uncomfortable.”

Offensive images or messages can be reported to the police via the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre website at www.ceop.gov.uk/reportabuse.

Details of how to install a link to CEOP directly from a Facebook profile, as well as further information on internet safety, can also be found on West Mercia’s website, www.westmercia.police.uk.

CEOP’s website at www.thinkyouknow.co.uk is aimed at children aged five to 16, and has sections for parents and teachers.

In June, the Advertiser featured an article on police investigations into reports of middle-aged men grooming young girls on social networking sites in the Redditch area.