A MAN travelled from London to Gwent to have a sexual encounter with a 12-year-old girl in a hotel room but had genuinely thought she was 18.

Minicab driver Leo O’Connor met the girl on dating website Plenty of Fish and drove to Caerphilly to pick her up.

The 35-year-old was jailed for 40 months with a judge saying the defendant had “asked no questions” about a complete stranger.

Roger Griffiths, prosecuting, told Cardiff Crown Court how O’Connor took the girl to a hotel in the town where "sexual activity" took place but not full intercourse.

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They spent around two hours in a room there before he dropped her off and drove back home.

The incident happened on the afternoon of November 18, 2019 and O’Connor was arrested just hours later by police in Central London.

Mr Griffiths said: “He told them, ‘I’ve done something stupid, but I didn’t have sex with her.’”

The prosecutor read out a victim impact statement provided by the victim’s mother who said: “I have noticed quite a big impact on my daughter.

“She no longer trusts anyone and she blames herself.

“It appears she has lost her childhood.”

O’Connor, of Wedderburn Road, Barking, pleaded guilty to assault by penetration.

He was a man of previous good character with no convictions to his name.

Michael Edmonds, representing O’Connor, said: “This case is wholly exceptional. He had every reason to believe she was over 18.

“There was no information given to him as to her true age.

“She sent him sexualised content and encouraged him to come to Wales.

“He has acted foolishly but without any criminal intent.”

Mr Edmonds added: “She presented herself in a deceitful way. He is not someone who can be labelled as a paedophile.”

He added that the hotel’s receptionist thought the girl was 17 and the defendant had shown “genuine remorse”.

The judge, Recorder Duncan Bould, told O’Connor: “She encouraged you but you were significantly older.

“You were literally old enough to be her father.”

The defendant will have to serve a custodial sentence of 28 months and an extended licence period of 12 months following his release from jail.

O’Connor will also have to register as a sex offender for 10 years.