A MAN who incited a fictional child to sexual activity during an undercover sting operation has been jailed.

Unbeknown to pervert Patrick Jessemey the '12-year-old girl' he was talking to online was really a police operator.

When he was arrested for the illicit communications the 75-year-old of Wantage Road, Didcot said to police 'I'm not a paedophile, I didn't know her age.'

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Jessemey had already admitted to one count of attempting to incite a girl aged under 13 to sexual activity.

He was sentenced for that offence at Oxford Crown Court yesterday.

It was revealed at the hearing that Jessemey had used a chat site and online application Kik to communicate with the fictional child in August last year.

The 'girl' - really a male police operator - purported to be aged 12.

Despite being told her age between August 8 and 23 Jessemey engaged in sexual communications with her.

During the conversation he asked the decoy child for photographs and also asked if he could perform specific sexual acts with her.

At one stage the septuagenarian also sent her a picture of himself.

When he was arrested by police he told officers he would not have done anything to her and claimed: "I was just talking to her.

"I am not a paedophile, I didn't know her age. I was just messing about."

In mitigation Lucy Ffrench, defending, said that her client was 'disgusted and horrified' by the contents of the messages and said that he could not explain it.

Sentencing, Judge Nigel Daly jailed Jessemey for a total of 36 months.

He must also sign the sex offenders register for life and be subject to a sexual harm prevention order indefinitely.

He was also ordered to pay a statutory victim surcharge.