A pervert who believed he was grooming a schoolgirl online has been jailed
Salesman Robert Kenneth Silverthorne, 54-years-old of Weston-super-Mare appeared at Cardiff Crown court where he pleaded not guilty to four charges:

Sexual communication with a child
Sending an indecent image to a child
Inciting a child into sexual activity
Attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming

It took the jury just minutes to convict him of four charges
The four convictions totalled a 44 months, but they will be served concurrently meaning he will serve just the two years behind bars.
The court was told that Silverthorne who was an officer in the sea cadets contacted what he believed was an online profile of a 15-year-old schoolgirl. He sent sexually explicit messages and pictures of his private parts.
However, the child was really a decoy from paedophile hunting team ‘PH balance’ who pose online as children to catch sex offenders who target children for sexual activity
A sexual harm prevention order was put in place for a period of 10 years
He was also told that he must register as a sex offender for 10 years