An Oxford musician who groomed a teenage girl in an Internet chatroom was today jailed for nine months.
Stephen Clapton, of Herschel Crescent, Littlemore, sent an indecent picture of himself to the teenager after chatting to her on MSN Messenger.
Pxford Crown Court heard the 23-year-old cornet player met the teenager, then 14, on a brass band website called Mouth Piece before arranging to meet her at a music convention.
Peter Coombe, prosecuting, said: "The defendant used to seek out young females to converse with."
He said Clapton tried to encourage the girl to perform a sex act while chatting online, and also asked her to send him pictures of herself.
Clapton admitted charges of meeting a child following sexual grooming, controlling a child into pornography and inciting a child to engage in a sexual activity.
Jane Brady, defending, said the pair had talked about meeting at the band convention but never made contact.
She said there was never a physical sexual relationship, telling the court Clapton was naive rather than predatory.
She added: "He did have an opportunity to see the victim within the confines of his own bedroom and he did not."
Judge Anthony King jailed Clapton for nine months, ordered that he sign the Sex Offenders' Register for 10 years and banned him from contacting children over the Internet.
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