Crowborough sex offender jailed after attempting to meet young girl

Sussex Police say Danny Watson, 37, a builder, of Alderbrook Close, Crowborough, was sentenced to a total of eight years in prison following a trial at Hove Crown Court on Friday, February 24.He had been found guilty, police say, of arranging to meet a child aged under 16 following grooming. He was also found guilty of two counts of possession of cannabis and cocaine, and a count of possession with intent to supply cannabis.Watson was originally arrested after he engaged in indecent on-line contact with someone he believed to be a 12-year-old girl in August last year and arranged to meet her in a Brighton street.However the person he was in contact with was in fact an adult man, who was filming the meeting. The man also informed the police, who arrived and arrested Watson.Watson was already serving a suspended sentence, having been convicted in October the previous year to possession of indecent images of children at his address. He had been sentenced to three months imprisonment suspended for 12 months, and was also a registered sex offender for seven years, say police.Police say Watson is now a registered sex offender for life and has been given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) to last until a further court order, which severely restricts his access to children and computers. He has also been banned for life from any work involving children and young people. Detective Constable Steve Smith said: “Watson was already a convicted sex offender less than a year previously, but clearly decided to take a chance at further offending.“The sentence shows that the courts will take repeat offending of this type very seriously.”

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